Egypt covid cases hit highest level since June 2020: The Health Ministry reported 1,569 fresh cases of covid-19 yesterday, the highest daily tally since late June 2020, during the initial wave of the pandemic.

Daily cases have doubled so far this month as omicron spreads across the country. Egypt disclosed a total of 408,495 confirmed cases of covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020.

The death toll hasn’t seen a similar surge: The ministry yesterday reported 41 new deaths, the highest number since December, bringing the country’s total death toll to 22,330.

Egypt received 667k AstraZeneca jabs from Belgium and Germany on Friday as part of the Gavi / Covax program, announced acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar. Covax began delivering jabs in February 2021 to 144 countries including Egypt, which signed an agreement to receive 40 mn vaccine doses through the initiative in 2021.

WHO backs wider use of boosters, recommending wider distribution of covid-19 boosters with priority given to vulnerable groups, upgrading its initial guidance to restrict boosters to “limited circumstances,” the Financial Times reports.