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Egypt Says No New COVID-19 Variant Detected

Students wear face masks at a school in Cairo. EPA file photo
Students wear face masks at a school in Cairo. EPA file photo
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Egypt Says No New COVID-19 Variant Detected

Students wear face masks at a school in Cairo. EPA file photo
Students wear face masks at a school in Cairo. EPA file photo

Egypt on Friday confirmed it has not detected a new COVID-19 variant in the country as the health ministry continued to expand the vaccination drive.

The ministry said on Friday it recorded 919 new coronavirus cases, upping the total number of infections to 341,188.

In a statement, ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said 60 patients died from complications caused by the disease over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 19,309.

As many as 622 patients were discharged from hospitals after receiving medical care, taking the number of recoveries to 285,615.

The ministry also said it continues to take all necessary preventive measures against any viruses or infectious diseases.

“The ministry has not detected any new COVID-19 variants in the country. We are now witnessing the fourth wave of the pandemic, but compared to the last wave, the infection rates are lower,” Megahed said.

The spokesperson announced that the ministry is vaccinating 500,000 people per day.

There is a drive to expand the delivery of vaccines and increase the online registration of citizens on the ministry’s website dedicated for the vaccination campaign, he said.

The ministry renewed its calls to implement precautionary measures after receiving the vaccine and stressed the importance of wearing face masks, ensuring social distancing, and washing hands constantly to avoid getting infected.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.