Egypt's COVID-19 death toll nears 5,000

Fatalities from the novel coronavirus rose to 4,971 in Egypt, the nation’s health officials reported Saturday.

Twenty people died and 141 others were diagnosed with the virus in the past 24 hours.

Total cases topped 95,000 with more than 50,500 patients recovering from the disease.

The pandemic has claimed more than 718,400 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in China last December. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

More than 19.2 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 11.6 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University. (AA)