Abdel Ghaffar: Vaccination Required Regardless Lifting Entry Restrictions

Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, commented on the latest decision of lifting the Coronavirus restrictions, media agencies reported on Saturday.

Abdel Ghaffar said that lifting the restrictions was based on detailed studies and research, and all taken decisions were concerned with the public health in Egypt.

He added that the Egyptian authorities work accurately for observing the updates of the pandemic in Egypt, in addition to providing the required number of vaccines for protecting the Egyptians which helped in lifting the travel restrictions, asserting that vaccination is the safest way to restrict the virus.

On Thursday, Egypt decided to remove all covid-related restrictions on the entry of Egyptian and foreign travelers.

This came during a meeting of the Higher Coronavirus Crisis Management Committee, headed by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli.

The move means that all travelers, regardless of their country of origin, can now travel to Egypt for all kinds of purposes without being required to present a valid vaccination, recovery, or test certificate upon their arrival.

With today’s decision, Egypt joins several countries in lifting coronavirus restrictions on travelers as pandemic-related infections fall globally.

Egypt has been witnessing a sharp drop in the numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths, as indicated by the health ministry’s weekly update on the pandemic nationwide.

The average daily coronavirus infection and death tolls in Egypt have dropped to single digits in recent months.

The meeting was attended by the ministers of Defense, Military Production, Endowments, Supply and Trade Interior, Justice, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Acting Minister of Health, Finance, Local Development, Interior, and Civil Aviation, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Health and Prevention Affairs, and a number of senior officials.

Notably, all other travelers arriving from overseas, including Egyptian nationals,  were required to present a printed medical certificate showing a negative COVID-19 test result.