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Egypt: COVID Cases Continue to Decline

Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo
Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo
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Egypt: COVID Cases Continue to Decline

Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo
Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo

Egypt’s students will sit for their high school exams on Saturday amid high precautionary measures, as the number of COVID-19 fatalities continues to decline.

The Health Ministry urged the population on Friday to get vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab.

“The eligible categories are being expanded and the number of vaccine recipients is increasing as the Ministry obtains more batches of the vaccine,” the statement said, adding that Egypt is one of the first countries in the African continent to start manufacturing the vaccine.

The Ministry confirmed that in the past few weeks, Egypt obtained more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and that 610,000 doses will be sent to vaccine centers early next week, after completing their analysis.

The Ministry also expects to receive quantities of raw materials for the Sinovac vaccine by the end of next week, sufficient to manufacture 3 million doses, in addition to obtaining raw materials sufficient to produce 4.6 million doses by the end of this month.

The Ministry is scheduled to receive more AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines in the coming days, with plans to allocate them for travel purposes.

The statement noted that 2.4 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine are being manufactured locally and will be distributed to vaccination centers by the end of July.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said Friday that in the past 24 hours, 155 new coronavirus infections were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 282,737.

Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said 19 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 16,351.

Also, 765 patients were discharged from hospitals after receiving medical care, taking the number of recoveries to 216,982, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education said that exams for the secondary certificate will kick off on Saturday in all Egyptian governorates.

The Ministry stressed the importance of preparing isolation rooms for each exam committee to isolate those suspected of being infected with the virus.

It added that people in charge of the exams must wear medical masks and must keep them throughout the exams.

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Syrian Govt Visits Notorious Al-Hol Camp for First Time Since Kurds Deal

A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)
A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)
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Syrian Govt Visits Notorious Al-Hol Camp for First Time Since Kurds Deal

A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)
A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)

A Syrian government delegation visited a notorious camp in the Kurdish-administered northeast that hosts families of suspected ISIS group members, the new authorities' first visit, both sides said Saturday.

Kurdish-run camps and prisons in the northeast hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived links to ISIS, more than five years after the group’s territorial defeat in Syria.

Kurdish administration official Sheikhmous Ahmed said "a tripartite meeting was held on Saturday in the Al-Hol camp" that included a government delegation, another from the US-led international coalition fighting ISIS, and Kurdish administration members.

Al-Hol is northeast Syria's largest camp, housing some 37,000 people from dozens of countries, including 14,500 Iraqis, in dire conditions.

Discussions involved "establishing a mechanism for removing Syrian families from Al-Hol camp", Ahmed said.

The visit comes more than two months after interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, agreed to integrate the Kurds' civil and military institutions into the national government.

The deal also involved guaranteeing the return of all Syrians to their hometowns and villages.

No progress has yet been reported on the administration's integration into the new government.

In Damascus, interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba told reporters Al-Hol is "part of the agreement" signed by Sharaa and Abdi.

He said the issue requires "a comprehensive societal solution for the families who are victims" of ISIS.

In February, the Kurdish administration said that in coordination with the United Nations, it aimed to empty camps in the northeast of thousands of displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, including suspected relatives of extremists, by the end of the year.

Al-Hol includes a high-security section for families of foreign ISIS fighters.

Ahmed said the fate of those families "is linked to the countries that have nationals (in the camp), and to the international coalition", which supported Kurdish-led forces who fought ISIS, detaining its fighters and their relatives.

The Kurds have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens, but foreign governments have allowed home only a trickle, fearing security threats and a domestic political backlash.

It is unclear who will administer prisons holding thousands of ISIS fighters in the northeast, with Abdi saying in February the new authorities wanted them under Damascus's control.