State coffers are ready to dole out a fresh stimulus package if needed during the second wave of covid-19, with the top priority being healthcare spending, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait confirmed to Yahduth fi Misr’s Sherif Amer. Maait had said last month that more stimulus has already been factored into budget calculations, but refused to tell Amer how the package would measure up in comparison to the EGP 100 bn in stimulus allocated at the beginning of the pandemic (watch, runtime: 5:36). Maait also had an extensive conversation with Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa recapping the first stimulus package, as well as the implementation of the universal healthcare scheme, which was piloted in Port Said last year (watch, runtime: 35:59).

Meanwhile, the government’s scientific committees are still conducting a review of our vaccine choices before green-lighting their distribution, presidential health advisor Mohamed Awad Tag Eldin told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi. Until that day comes, we must take social distancing and other preventive measures seriously, Tag Eldin stressed (watch, runtime: 10:27). Egypt’s daily case count has been rising steadily because of people’s collective decision to essentially “cancel covid” and flout safety protocols, Tag Eldin told Sherif Amer (watch, runtime: 3:44).