CAIRO, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Egypt reported on Tuesday a record 789 daily new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number in the North African country to 18,756, said the health ministry.

It is the eighth consecutive day for Egypt's COVID-19 daily infections to exceed 700.

Meanwhile, 14 patients died from the novel coronavirus, bringing the death toll in Egypt to 797, while 127 more patients were completely cured and discharged from hospitals, raising the recoveries to 5,027, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

He highlighted Egypt's close cooperation and coordination with the World Health Organization regarding COVID-19 case detection and necessary medical care.

Egypt announced its first confirmed COVID-19 infection on Feb. 14 and the first death from the pandemic on March 8, both foreigners.

On Monday, Health Minister Hala Zayed said 291 Egyptian medics were infected with the coronavirus and 11 died from the disease.

Responding to complaints from the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, the minister announced allocation of a 20-bed floor in each isolation hospital for infected medics.

The Egyptian health ministry has recently prepared 320 public hospitals for receiving and treating COVID-19 cases, besides those hospitals of chest and fever diseases that have been working with full capacity since the beginning of the crisis.

Starting May 24, the beginning of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, Egypt prolonged the 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, before 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 the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic through mutual provision of medical aid and sharing experiences in containing 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, returned favor by sending three batches of medical aid to Egypt.

On April 16, May 10 and May 16, Chinese doctors held video conferences with Egyptian counterparts to share their experiences in prevention and treatment of the virus. Enditem

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