Egypt will not reinstate lockdown if second wave of COVID-19 hits: Health minister

Egypt will not reinstate lockdown if second wave of COVID-19 hits: Health minister

Egypt will not be reinstating a full or partial lockdown if coronavirus infections surge once again, Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed told the 67th session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean Tuesday.

"This is the lesson we learned from the first wave; that countries should not resort to this strategy the way they did during the first wave, but should rather respond to surges in cases within localised [population] clusters," Zayed said.

"However, all [precautionary] health measures will remain in place in the upcoming period," Zayed assured.

Egypt has so far recorded 104,648 coronavirus cases, 6,062 deaths, and 97,743 recoveries, with relatively few daily numbers reported over the past two months.

Egypt has moved towards a gradual reopening of its economy since late