Egypt Reports 1st Case of Delta Variant

Arab World

August 24th, 7:10am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A man receives a dose of the China's Sinopharm vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a mass immunization venue inside Cairo's International Exhibition Center in Cairo, Egypt June 5, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah

Egypt’s health Minister has said that the authorities detected the country’s first case of the alarming coronavirus delta variant last month. Health Minister Hala Zayed told a news conference in Cairo Monday that the first case of delta variant was for a 35-year-old Egyptian woman who showed “very mild” symptoms and did not require hospitalization. Zayed said authorities have recently detected other cases of the contagious delta variant but none required hospitalization. Egypt has recorded 286,352 COVID-19 infections as of Sunday, including 16,674 deaths. Egypt will vaccinate all 4.5 million of its state employees in August and September as it seeks to accelerate vaccinations ahead of a likely fourth wave. The country's infection rate is still low but started to increase last week and the upward curve is expected to continue for a while, Zayed said, adding that a significant increase is expected in late September. "It is important for the Egyptian government and the political leadership that we work to intensify vaccinations in the coming period," Zayed said.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3149161/egypt-reports-1st-case-delta-variant