Egypt’s health sector races to scale up coronavirus readiness

Egypt’s health sector races to scale up coronavirus readiness

CAIRO: Egypt has ramped up efforts to fight the coronavirus, ordering manufacturers to channel medical protective equipment to public hospitals and announcing 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($64 million) in extra funding for its health services.. But the capacity of the public health system to cope with an acceleration of cases in the country of 100 million, where population density could increase the chances of quick contagion, remains a concern, some of its doctors say.. Egypt had allocated 125 billion pounds from its 1.6 trillion pound 2019/20 budget to the health sector.. The health minister told parliament in January that 150 million Egyptian pounds had been assigned for renovations at Boulaq, but more was needed, according to state newspaper Al-Ahram.. Egypt is not alone in feeling the strain of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 43,000 people worldwide.. But once the number of cases surpasses 1,000, the tracing would become harder, the health minister has said.. BEIRUT: Abdul-Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian vice president and foreign minister who was one of the most influential figures in the country before defecting in 2005 to France, has died of a heart attack in Paris, his son said Wednesday.. Jihad Khaddam told The