Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli said Wednesday that a new surge in coronavirus infections entails commitment to applying all precautionary measures, atop of which wearing face masks.

Madbouli also reiterated the need for citizens to get jabbed, stressing that his government is acting to secure the different Covid vaccines.

The prime minister was speaking during a meeting with acting health minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar to review the situation of the pandemic in Egypt and abroad.

For the fifth week in a row, the number of infections continues to increase worldwide, Abdel Ghaffar said, pointing out that the latest drop was recorded in March.

The number of Covid cases has upped by 15 percent during the week from July 4 until July 10, while deaths went up by 7 percent compared with the previous week.

At home, infections also rose during the 28th week of the year 2022 in the period from July 10 through July 16, the minister said, citing data from 542 hospitals across Egypt.

So far some 38 million persons have received Covid vaccine at 1,393 vaccination centers across Egypt, the minister told Madbouli.

He also put the premier in the picture about occupancy rates at isolation hospitals of the Health Ministry, which do not exceed 12 percent for ICU beds and 4 percent for ventilators. Those are satisfying rates, Abdel Ghaffar noted.

Positive Covid cases are required to isolate for a minimum of five days from the date of testing and should continue to wear face masks for another five days after healing, the minister advised.

Source: State Information Service Egypt