Egypt has at least 10 times more covid cases than official figures show, medical group official says

A member of Egypt’s Scientific Committee to Combat Coronavirus has said that coronavirus infection numbers in Egypt are at least ten times higher than what has been announced by the health ministry.

In an interview with ‘Kalema Akhera’ (Last Word) host Lamis Al-Hadidi, Mohamed Al-Nady said: “We have more coronavirus infections than what is announced. It is at least ten times higher than what is announced.”

The comments come after months of speculation that the government is under reporting the real coronavirus figures in the country.

Egypt has officially announced a total of 126,273 cases and 7,130 deaths.

READ: State of emergency in Egypt’s southwest province after 2 bird flu hotspots detected

However, doctors who have spoken out about this have been detained and silenced.

In March, Doctor Aala Shaaban Hamida was reported to national security by her boss who complained she was causing fear and panic after a nurse in her department used her phone to report a covid case to the health ministry.

Since the start of the pandemic, Egypt’s doctors have faced staff shortages, difficulty obtaining medical supplies and lack of PPE.

Ophthalmologist Hany Bakr was detained on medical changes after questioning why aid was going abroad when there was such a severe shortage at home.

Egypt has sent medical equipment to its allies in Italy, the UK and the US, whilst doctors at home die from lack of protective equipment.

By the end of November 205 doctors had died of COVID-19.