Detainee dies at Egypt police station after suffering covid-type symptoms

Another detainee has died in detention after suffering symptoms of the coronavirus.

Khaled Taha, 58, died at the Haram Police station as a result of a stroke and pneumonia.

His release was ordered on 8 July after he paid his bail, but he was never actually released.

His death follows a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released last week which documented that at least 14 detainees had died of suspected coronavirus in Egypt across ten facilities since mid-July.

Of these 14 deaths, nine died in hospital and three of them were transferred just hours before they died.

The report criticised the insufficient medical care, lack of symptom screening and testing for the virus currently in place in Egypt’s prisons.

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HRW called on Egyptian authorities to take “immediate steps to provide everyone in detention with adequate medical care.”

The Geneva-based Committee for Justice has documented more than 190 cases of coronavirus in 12 prisons and 29 police stations.

Rights groups have consistently appealed to the government to release political prisoners to ease overcrowding.

The unhygienic prison cells that are full beyond capacity are fertile breeding grounds for the spread of the virus.