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Egypt reports 14.9% rise in deaths in first half 2021 from year earlier

July 5, 2021 at 7:04 pm

Members of the medical staff at the infectious diseases unit of the Imbaba hospital are seen in the capital Cairo on April 19, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. [AHMED HASAN/AFP via Getty Images]

Egypt registered a 14.9% increase in deaths in the first half of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020, the country’s statistics agency CAPMAS said on Monday, without specifying any underlying causes of death, reported Reuters.

The health ministry has so far reported a total of 282,082 cases of coronavirus including 16,264 deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. However, officials and experts say the real number of infections is far higher but is not reflected in government figures because of low coronavirus testing rates and the exclusion of private test results.

CAPMAS said 49,818 more people died in the first six months of 2021, signifying a “large increase in the rate”.

Statistics also showed deaths in 2021 had increased by 31.3% when compared to the same six-month period in 2019.