And the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, was infected with “Covid-19”, on Monday, as he was isolated at his home, while following the work of the ministry continuously from a distance.
The virus affected a number of Egyptian media professionals, led by Amr Adib and his wife Lamis Al Hadidi, as well as Basma Wahba.
In the sports community, the epidemic hit the Egyptian team with 8 injuries, headed by goalkeeper Mohamed Abu Jabal, veteran guards coach Essam El-Hadary, player Ibrahim Adel, and a number of administrators.
The list of injuries has extended to the artistic community since the beginning of this year, with the artist Ahmed Hatem, the artist Ahmed Fahmy and his wife, the artist Hana Al-Zahid, the artist Abeer Sabry and her husband, the artist Naglaa Badr, as well as the scriptwriter Tamer Habib.
After declining late last year, the number of infections rose again during the last week, reaching 912 new positive cases of the virus and its variants by the end of Sunday, in addition to 26 deaths.
In total, Egypt has recorded 392,857 positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic, of whom 327,144 have been cured, and 21,964 deaths.
3 reasons to increase
Allergy and immunology consultant, Amjad Al-Haddad, explains, in statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that there are 3 main reasons for the high rate of injuries, whether in the daily statement of the Ministry of Health, or the feeling of this in close circles.
Al-Haddad attributed this increase to the mutation of the Corona virus, which made it more capable of spreading and infection, in addition to the cold weather in the winter, which doubles the power of the virus to spread, as well as the lack of precautionary measures by citizens as it was in the past with the beginning of the epidemic.
He pointed out that the “Omicron” mutant appeared in Egypt since last month, which is one of the main reasons for the spread of infections globally and locally, pointing out that this mutation made the virus more able to spread, but it became more weak at the level of severity of symptoms compared to the “Delta” mutant.
He explained that winter greatly affects the increase in the number of cases due to the traditional procedures of citizens in closing windows, the lack of good ventilation, and the increase in gatherings inside the house.
The Allergy and Immunology consultant stressed the need not to be lenient with regard to the feeling of some people with “cold and flu” infections and dealing with them as an infection with Corona, doing home isolation, taking vitamins and warm fluids, and following up with the doctor for accurate diagnosis of the situation and preventing its deterioration, especially for the elderly and those with chronic diseases.
“Omicron”
In turn, the professor of health economics and epidemiology, Islam Annan, said that the “Omicron” mutant will replace the “Delta” mutate on globally and locally, and we are witnessing in Egypt a noticeable rise in the number of injuries, as happened in the United States, but with a slight increase in deaths is not the size of the previous waves.
He pointed out that the “Omicron” mutant has a number of characteristics, on top of which is the increase in prevalence 3 times higher than the “Delta” mutant, and thus we are witnessing a doubling of infections worldwide every three days, and it also threatens to infect the whole family if there is a positive case among them.
Annan agreed with what Al-Haddad said that the symptoms of corona have become less recently, and affect the upper respiratory system, and are represented in general weakness and congestion of the nose and throat, and rarely suffer from a loss of the senses of smell and taste, with a headache that lasts between one to two weeks if the situation worsens.
He pointed out the need to take many measures to reduce the chances of infection, on top of which is obtaining the anti-Corona vaccine, which contributes to reducing the chances of infection and hospitalization, as well as maintaining social distancing and wearing masks, and treating any symptoms of a cold as suspected of Corona, especially since some are infected with the virus without To have severe symptoms or symptoms.
An official in the Scientific Committee to Combat Corona at the Egyptian Ministry of Health told Sky News Arabia that the country is still in the fourth wave of the pandemic so far, despite the recent increase in the number of cases, due to the abandonment of precautionary and preventive measures.
The official stressed the need not to be present in large gatherings during the coming period due to the increased speed of spread of the “Omicron” mutant, and the ease of transmission, pointing out that about 85% of the cases observed daily have mild symptoms.
He said, “What matters to us at this stage is caution, receiving the vaccine, and not complacency in applying precautionary measures, to limit the spread of Corona.”
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