CAIRO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Egypt recorded on Friday 123 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic to 97,148, said the country's Health Ministry.
It is the 20th consecutive day for Egypt's COVID-19 daily infections to fall below 200, after they started to surpass 200 on April 23.
Also on Friday, 19 coronavirus-related deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 5,231, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.
Meanwhile, 856 were cured and discharged from hospitals, taking the total recoveries to 64,318, Megahed said.
On Thursday, Upper Egypt's Luxor announced that the cabinet agreed to reopen archeological sites, hotels and museums in the monument-rich city for tourists from the beginning of September.
The announcement came a day after the cabinet decided that from Sept. 1 all travellers coming to Egypt will have to present a recent PCR test that proves they are free from COVID-19.
Public parks, entertainment parks and zoos will also be allowed to receive visitors from the beginning of September but with a limited capacity, while public beaches will remain closed until further notice.
The most populous Arab country announced its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Feb. 14 and the first death from the highly infectious virus on March 8.
The country resumed international flights in early July, after it lifted a partial curfew it has been imposing since late March, and reopened restaurants, cafes, theaters and cinemas, as well as hotels, museums and archeological sites, all with limited capacity.
Egypt and China have been cooperating closely in fighting the pandemic through exchanging medical aid and expertise.
In early February, Egypt provided aid to China to help with its fight against COVID-19 and China later sent three batches of medical aid to the North African country. Enditem
