Egypt's health ministry announced on Friday 17 new fatalities from coronavirus, marking the country's highest single-day death toll and bringing the total number of deaths to 135.

The ministry also reported 95 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of cases so far to 1,794.

Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said that 30 percent of those who died since the first infection was discovered in February had passed away before reaching the isolation hospitals.

The health ministry added in its statement that 36 Egyptians have fully recovered and left isolation hospitals on Friday, which brings the total number of recoveries from the virus so far to 384.

The number of cases whose test results have turned from positive to negative, including the recoveries, has now reached 505, spokesman Megahed said.

He added that the newly detected cases are all of Egyptians and that they were detected through the ministry's investigation and contact tracing protocols.

Egypt extended a nationwide night-time curfew by two weeks on Wednesday in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus and took other preventative measures, including closing schools and universities and suspending international flights.

In a televised press briefing on Wednesday, prime minister Moustafa Madbouly said the current infection count in Egypt is in line with the government's projections.

He predicted an increase in the number of new cases over the coming two or three weeks.

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