Cape Town – Egyptian MP Youssef Al-Shazly, deputy secretary of the telecommunication committee in Egypt’s parliament, has confirmed that he has tested positive for Covid-19.
This makes Al-Shazly the sixth case of coronavirus infection in the House of Representatives, news network Daily Morocco reported.
All infected MPs are currently quarantined at private hospitals.
House of Representatives Secretary-General Mahmoud Fawzi said that despite the recorded infections, parliament would remain open and keep working, but under strict conditions to avoid further transmission of the virus. He added that action would be taken against MPs who violated these rules.
The deputy of the legislative committee, Ihab Al-Tamawi, said that he agreed with the state’s plan to coexist with the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Egypt Today reported that an adviser to the Egyptian health minister for emergency affairs had contracted the coronavirus after coming into contact with Covid-19 patients.
On Thursday, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi took part in the virtual Global Vaccine Summit, where he said in a recorded speech that Egypt was continuing trials to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus.
The president called on the international community to also focus on other infectious diseases, which the world has previously fought, to keep them from spreading, wrote Egypt Today.
In other news, Egyptian health officials said they would continue using the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as part of their coronavirus treatment protocol.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had dropped trials with hydroxychloroquine a few weeks ago after the medical journal The Lancet raised safety concerns related to the use of the drug.
However, in an about-turn, the WHO said on Tuesday it would resume trials with hydroxychloroquine, reported the Guardian.
According to reports, the Lancet study came under scrutiny by scientists around the world, with many of them questioning the authenticity of the data it had published.
The WHO said it had reviewed the Lancet study and other findings about hydroxychloroquine and had determined that it was safe for trials to continue, reported the Guardian.