CAIRO: The Egyptian government will treat a doctor for free after he lost his eyesight while working in a coronavirus quarantine hospital.
The doctor, Mahmoud Samy, lost sight in both eyes after suffering from high blood pressure that affected the ophthalmic artery.
Although Samy was not blinded directly by the virus, government officials said that he will be transferred from Kafr El-Sheikh Hospital to the International Medical Center and treated at the state’s expense.
The Health Affairs Department in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, north of Cairo, said that Samy, a fever specialist at Bella Hospital, was left blind after suffering from high blood pressure while working in the quarantine hospital in Balteem.
In a statement, health officials said that Samy suffered from breathing difficulties and high blood pressure. His health deteriorated on May 9, and he received first aid and underwent a CT scan. Later he was taken by ambulance to the intensive care unit in Kafr El-Sheikh Chest Hospital.
Samy tested negative for the coronavirus, but after his condition improved, he discovered he was unable to see.
In a media statement made while in intensive care, Samy said that he did not regret carrying out his duties.
“If it happened all over again, I would perform my duty as a doctor,” he said.
“I hope that God cures me and gives me back my eyesight so I can go back to work and help my colleagues fight the coronavirus.
“I do not regret carrying out my duty. May God help doctors, nurses and the state in fighting this pandemic.”
Dr. Amr Abu Samra, head of the Kafr El-Sheikh Doctors Syndicate, said that specialists are monitoring Samy’s health and providing him with emotional support.
Ten doctors have died in Egypt and 178 have been infected while fighting the coronavirus, according to the Doctors Syndicate.
The most recent death was Dr. Karem Mahmoud Abul Magd, head of the Internal Medicine Department in Luxor International Hospital, who died of COVID-19 late on Wednesday in Aswan Quarantine Hospital in Upper Egypt.
Dr. Kawthar Mahmoud, head of the Nurses Syndicate and head of the Central Department for Nursing in Egypt, said that so far six nurses have died from COVID-19.
The latest victim was Soheir Helmy, a nurse in El-Demerdash Surgery Hospital, who fell ill while working in the quarantine hospital in Abour.
