Egypt Scales Up Readiness of COVID-19 Isolation Hospitals

Men in protective masks wait for the train at a metro station in Cairo. (File photo: Reuters)
Men in protective masks wait for the train at a metro station in Cairo. (File photo: Reuters)
TT

Egypt Scales Up Readiness of COVID-19 Isolation Hospitals

Men in protective masks wait for the train at a metro station in Cairo. (File photo: Reuters)
Men in protective masks wait for the train at a metro station in Cairo. (File photo: Reuters)

Egypt has ramped up efforts to increase the preparedness of the coronavirus isolation hospitals as the country witnesses an exponential upwards curve in COVID-19 infections, announced Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed.

The Minister indicated that private sector hospitals are the Health Ministry’s primary partner in providing medical services to those infected, stressing the importance of uniting all state efforts with the private sector to confront the virus.

She also thanked the health workers for their efforts in serving patients during the pandemic, urging them to provide health care to all coronavirus patients.

The Ministry of Health earlier stated that 98 persons had recovered while 392 new cases were recorded. It also reported 16 deaths over the past 24 hours.

Egypt has officially registered 116,303 virus cases, including 6,666 fatalities and 102,816 recoveries since the start of the pandemic, according to the ministry.

Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria governorates recorded the highest infection rates.

During a meeting with the Chairman of the Health Care Providers Chamber Dr. Alaa Abdel Majeed Masoud, the Health Minister emphasized that the medical sector has been the first line of defense since the beginning of the pandemic.

She indicated that 436 hospitals have been equipped to receive patients, including 22 isolation hospitals.

The meeting discussed the mechanism of work of private hospitals during the pandemic and the updated treatment protocols per the standards of the World Health Organization.

The spokesman of the Egyptian Health Ministry, Khalid Mujahid, said that the meeting also evaluated the medical services provided to coronavirus patients in private hospitals.

He pointed out that the ministry is meeting the needs of these hospitals, noting that all necessary medicines and preventive equipment are being supplied to best serve the country's patients.

Meanwhile, the government held a meeting, chaired by PM Mostafa Madbouly, and announced that it will be taking the necessary steps to provide coronavirus vaccines, including contracting with the Vaccine Alliance Gavi for around 20 million doses.

The cabinet also instructed all medical groups to contract other companies to secure a greater number of vaccines.



Iran's Weakening Will Not Harm Iraq, Deputy Parliament Speaker Says

Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
TT

Iran's Weakening Will Not Harm Iraq, Deputy Parliament Speaker Says

Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

Iraq will not be negatively affected by the weakening of Iran's influence in the Middle East, Iraq's deputy parliament speaker said, with Baghdad looking to chart its own diplomatic path in the region and limit the power of armed groups.

Mohsen al-Mandalawi spoke to Reuters in a recent interview after seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad overthrown by the opposition.

US President Donald Trump's new administration has promised to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is trying to avoid upsetting its fragile stability and focus on rebuilding after years of war.

"Today, we have stability. Foreign companies are coming to Iraq," said Mandalawi, himself a businessman with interests in Iraqi hotels, hospitals and cash transfer services.

"Iraq has started to take on its natural role among Arab states. Iran is a neighbor with whom we have historical ties. Our geographical position and our relations with Arab states are separate matters," he said, speaking at his office in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home to government institutions and foreign embassies.

"I don't think that the weakening of Iran will negatively impact Iraq."

Mandalawi is a member of Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Coordination Framework, a grouping of top politicians seen as having close ties with Iran, and heads the Asas coalition of lawmakers in parliament.

Iraq's balancing act between Tehran and Washington has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on US troops in the country after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

That has led to several rounds of tit-for-tat strikes that have since been contained.

During Trump's first 2017-2021 presidency, ties were tense after the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in 2020, leading to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq.