The fourth wave of the covid-19 pandemic was the main focus of last night’s talk shows: Case numbers so far this month have already exceeded those recorded for the entire month of September last year, according to Hossam Hosny, head of the Health Ministry’s covid committee. In a phone interview with El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 1:26), Hosny attributed the increase to a lack of caution as people tire of following precautionary measures, as well as the emergence of more potent variants of the virus (watch, runtime: 1:43). Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 4:18) also pressed the importance of vaccination, noting the 36% weekly increase and 5% daily increase in covid case numbers in Egypt as of yesterday.

Vaccination has become mandatory for entry to university campuses ahead of the start of the new school year on 9 October, Higher Education Ministry Spokesperson Adel Abdel Ghaffar said in a phone interview with Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 9:51). He said that every college would issue vaccination cards to students, faculty and staff.

Egypt is suffering from a medical brain drain: “Egypt is among the countries suffering from a shortage of doctors, despite the fact that 9,000 doctors graduate from the country’s medical schools every year,” Health Minister Hala Zayed said in an interview with El Hadidi for Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 6:15), adding that 65% of Egyptian doctors work abroad.

The new waste management system is being launched in 18 Cairo districts, with private sector companies Irtiqaa and Enviromaster set to manage solid waste disposal in western and eastern Cairo, respectively, Local Development Ministry spokesperson Khaled Qassem told El Hadidi on Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 20:40). Meanwhile, head of the local development ministry’s executive unit for garbage, Ahmed Saeed, told Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 48:16) that the government has invested EGP 9 bn in infrastructure as part of its overhaul of the country’s waste management system, establishing 26 sanitary landfills and more than 15 fixed and seven mobile treatment plants at a cost of EGP 3 bn, and clearing more than 40.5 mn tons of dumped garbage.

Also on the airwaves last night:

• A 2019 law on licensing requirements for retail stores will apply to both new and existing shos, according to MP Ahmed El Segini, head of the parliament’s local administration committee. Theact is in the headlines now as a two-year window for shops to comply ends and governorates thus start enforcing it. (Lamees El Hadidi on Kelma Akhira | watch, runtime: 14:08)
• The delay in delivery of natgas-powered vehicles under the government’s replacement scheme came as a result of the global microchip shortage, and not due to a lack of dealers participating in the scheme, according to initiative spokesperson Ahmed Abdel Razeq. (Al Hadath Al Youm | watch, runtime: 4:37)