CAIRO, May 27 -- Egypt confirmed on Wednesday 910 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 19,666, said the Egyptian Health Ministry.
It is the first time for COVID-19 daily infections in Egypt to exceed 900, after there were over 700 daily cases in the past eight consecutive days.
Meanwhile, 19 patients died from the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 816, Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.
The highest single-day COVID-19 fatalities in Egypt stood at 29 and were reported on May 24.
Megahed said that 178 coronavirus patients were completely cured and discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours, increasing total recoveries to 5,205.
Egypt announced its first confirmed COVID-19 infection on Feb. 14 and the first death from the pandemic on March 8, both of whom were foreigners.
The Egyptian Health Ministry expects the next period to see "the peak" of coronavirus infections in the country, according to remarks made by Assistant Health Minister Mohamed Fawzy to a local TV channel earlier in the day.
The ministry has recently prepared 320 public hospitals for receiving and treating COVID-19 cases, besides those hospitals of chest diseases and fever that have been working with full capacity since the beginning of the crisis.
Since May 24, which marks the beginning of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, Egypt has prolonged a previously imposed nighttime curfew from nine hours to 13 hours for six days, to maintain social distancing and avoid gatherings amid increasing COVID-19 infections.
From May 30, the curfew will be reduced to 10 hours for two weeks, and then the government will consider easing restrictions and gradually resuming several suspended activities.
The most populous Arab country has already started gradually reopening services and offices that have been halted since mid-March amid the government's "coexistence plan" to maintain anti-coronavirus precautionary measures while resuming services, businesses and economic activities.
Egypt and China have been cooperating closely in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic through exchanging medical aid and expertise to curb the spread of the deadly respiratory disease.
In early February, Egypt was among the first nations to provide aid to China in its fight against the coronavirus outbreak.
China, after having largely controlled the pandemic, has sent three batches of medical aid to Egypt, the last of which was delivered in mid-May.
Since mid-April, Chinese doctors held three video conferences with Egyptian counterparts to share their experiences in the prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus.