17 medics test positive at Egypt’s cancer hospital

66

Coronavirus deaths reported in Egypt

cairo — At least 17 medics in Egypt’s main cancer hospital have been quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, officials said on Saturday, raising fears the pandemic could prey on health facilities in the Arab world’s most populous country.

Egypt has reported around 1,000 confirmed cases and 66 fatalities from the global pandemic. Authorities have closed schools and mosques, banned public gatherings and imposed a nighttime curfew to prevent the virus from spreading among the population of 100 million, a fifth of whom live in the densely-populated capital, Cairo.

Dr. Hatem Abu el-Kassem, the director of the National Cancer Institute, said three doctors and 12 nurses tested positive for the virus. He said all other health workers at the facility, which is affiliated with Cairo University and treats hundreds of cancer patients every day, would be tested. The university later said a total of 17 health workers tested positive.

The institute will be partly closed for three days to be sterilized, with only the emergency ward remaining open.

Several doctors took to social media to criticice the institute’s leadership for not taking restrictive measures earlier.

Maggie Mousa, an anesthesiologist at the institute, tweeted that one of her close friends was infected. She accused top officials of mismanagement and negligence for not imposing restrictions after the first case was detected more than a week ago.

“They refused to take any measures to protect her and isolate the institute,” she said.

Cairo University said it has established a fact-finding mission to investigate the measures taken by the institute to prevent the virus from spreading.

The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most patients, who recover within a few weeks. But it is highly contagious and can cause severe illness or death, particularly in older patients or those with underlying health problems, including cancer patients. —