Anger in Egypt over hospitals’ rejection to treat woman infected with COVID-19

Egyptian activists posted on social media a video of a woman infected with COVID-19 lying on the ground after several hospitals refused to treat her, Qatari Al-Sharq newspaper reported on Friday.

The video, which went viral on the internet, shows the woman lying on the ground of an Egyptian street, with her daughter standing beside her.

According to Russia Today, the video was associated with angry messages targeting the Egyptian authorities, while questioning health services in the country.

The woman attempted to enter several hospitals, but none of them admitted her, allegedly due to a lack of beds or sufficient medication.

One activist sent a message through his Twitter account, where he posted the video of the woman to the Egyptian Ministerial Council, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Housing, asserting that the woman was dying before people’s eyes after she was denied entry to hospitals.

He posted a telephone number for the woman’s daughter, urging people to call her to offer help.

Egypt: All staff at Al-Azhar Hospital contract COVID-19 

On Thursday, Reuters reported that Egyptian doctors are being detained due to leaking information about the deteriorating health conditions in light of the outbreak of COVID-19.

Reuters reported doctors stating that the Egyptian authorities are revealing low numbers of fatalities as a result of COVID-19, to hide the real consequences of the virus on daily life in the country.

In addition, it reported doctors complaining of not having protective gear or the medicines and medical equipment needed to deal with COVID-19.

Russia Today communicated that the daughter of the infected woman stated that her mother was initially denied admission to hospital due to a lack of beds, and was later admitted and had a test that proved she was infected with COVID-19.

The daughter explained that she was transferred to another hospital, where she was denied entry and transferred to a third one to be put in quarantine. The third hospital denied her entry.

Reuters, according to Al Sharq newspaper, reported Egyptian doctors revealing that they were warned by the Egyptian authorities not to leak information about COVID-19 to mass media, otherwise, they would face legal consequences.