Cairo: Prominent Egyptian paediatrician Dr Hesham Al Saket, a senior official in the country’s leading medical school, has died from the COVID-19, his colleagues have said.
Dr Al Saket, a well-known paediatric surgeon, died on Friday at a Cairo hospital to which he and his wife were taken last month after they caught the coronavirus. His wife is still in the hospital.
He was the deputy dean of Qasr Al Eini Medical School affiliated to Cairo University. President of the university, Mohammad Al Khesht, confirmed the death and paid tribute to Al Saket.
“We feel painful sadness over the loss of a respected and top-level personality and a prominent medical leader at Cairo University,” Al Khesht said in a Facebook.
Dr Al Saket’s death is the sixth such death reported in Egypt’s medical community due to the coronavirus.
On Thursday, Cairo University confirmed that the dean of its dentistry school has tested positive for the coronavirus. The diagnosis prompted the testing of 17 administrative and medical staffers who were in touch with him, the results of which have not been made public yet.
Ninety-one medical professionals have already been infected with the virus, according to the Egyptian Doctors’ Association.
Egypt so far has reported a total of 5,895 virus cases, including 409 deaths.
