Egypt reported its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases yet on Thursday at 168 new infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,673, the health ministry said.

The death toll now stands at 196, with 13 new fatalities on Thursday, the ministry added.

Forty-three patients have fully recovered and left isolation hospitals and quarantine facilities on Thursday, which brings the total number of recoveries from the virus thus far to 596.

The number of cases who have retested negative, including those who have fully recovered, has now reached 781, ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said.

All the new cases are Egyptians. They were detected through the ministry’s investigation and contact tracing protocols, Megahed added.

Hala Zayed, the minister of health, held a meeting on Thursday via video conference with the administrative and medical staff of six isolation hospitals to ensure that all their needs are being met and that treatment and infection control standards are followed.

The minister also thanked the Chinese government and people for sending to Egypt a shipment of medical supplies, which arrived on Thursday. She stressed the strength of relations between the two countries.

The shipment included four tonnes of medical protective supplies, including 20,000 N95 respirator masks, 10,000 protective gowns and 10,000 PCR testing kits, the ministry said.

Zayed praised the precautions taken by China to contain the pandemic as per the World Health Organization's guidelines.

She also hailed the efforts exerted by the Chinese side to increase the production capacity of a Cairo mask plant, which operates under an Egyptian-Chinese partnership.

The plant is expected to install five additional production lines, each with a capacity of 100,000 masks per day, the minister added.

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