The talking heads are increasingly concerned about the rising number of covid cases, with Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa warning of the potential nightmare scenario: He suggested that Egypt could soon find itself in the same situation as India, whose health system is on the verge of collapse due to the exponential rise in cases (watch, runtime 4:06). Masaa DMC’s Ramy Radwan voiced the same concerns, noting that unregistered daily cases in Egypt could be up to 70k compared to the official 1k average (watch, runtime: 2:33 I 3:52 I 5:50).

A huge “Yes, but…” India is currently setting world records of more than 300k cases a day. Egypt’s official tally yesterday was a little over 1k.

The situation in Egypt is still not disastrous: Presidential health advisor Mohamed Awad Tag Eldin told Masaa DMC that the country’s hospitals are able to accomodate the current level of cases and field hospitals are ready to be launched if necessary (watch, runtime: 4:43 I 5:23). The Health Ministry said yesterday that the country shored up its oxygen reserves to reach 2.2 mn liters of medical-grade oxygen from 1.16 mn in February following a recent directive from the prime minister to accumulate at least 3 mn liters of oxygen in reserve.

More blame levelled at Ramadan: Tag Eldin said that there is a continuous increase in covid-19 because we’re all ignoring guidelines on large gatherings and the like during the holy month (watch, runtime: 4:43 I 5:23). Show host Ramy Radwan called for a ban to be imposed on Ramadan tents.

Egypt between a rock and a hard place on GERD: Egypt may face tough scenarios following the second filling of GERD, but the country is trying to reach a solution that would lessen the impact and avoid having a drought in the long run, Moussa said (watch, runtime: 2:00).

Some European MPs are backing Egypt and Sudan: Ala Mas’ouleety covered a recent meeting of the European Parliament at which some MPs supported Egypt and Sudan's stance on GERD (watch, runtime: 2:45). Green MP Mounir Satouri said Ethiopia’s right to grow should not be at the cost of Egypt and Sudan’s water security. He added that Ethiopia's unilateral actions are not acceptable and conflict with international laws that protect the rights of downstream countries. Another European MP, Isabel Santos, called on the EU to step up efforts to end the crisis. The talk show’s reporter, Magdy Youssef, said that this doesn't mean that Europe will force Ethiopia to change direction, but is nonetheless a positive step that Egypt and Sudan can build on.