The Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed said on Saturday that 33 coronavirus cases have been detected on board a Nile cruise ship in Upper Egypt’s Luxor, while 11 others tested positive and would nevertheless be quarantined for two weeks.
The minister added that none of the new cases were showing symptoms of the virus, asserting that Egypt will import 250,000 devices to detect coronavirus. She pointed out that such devices will be distributed to all airports nationwide.
The first cases emerged after a Taiwanese-American woman who had been on the cruise tested positive for the coronavirus upon her return home.
The ship arrived in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor on Thursday from Aswan, further upstream, and was towed to a position outside the city and placed under quarantine, state media reported.
On his part, Dr. Moustafa Madbouli, the Prime Minister, said that Egypt was among the first countries to take precautionary measures against the outbreak of coronavirus, adding that the government has followed the paths of foreign tourists whose countries announced having the deadly virus and found that the aforementioned cruise was their point of connection.
This comes a day after the Health Ministry and the World Health Organization announced confirming 12 positive cases of the new virus on board the Nile cruise ship in Upper Egypt. The 12 staff members did not show any symptoms, according to the statement.
"The patients on the ship coming from Aswan to Luxor were mainly infected by an American tourist from a Taiwanese origin," the ministry spokesman said, citing a report for the World Health Organization.
Those on board the cruise ship were diagnosed by the polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the 14th day, the ministry said, adding that 12 people tested positive for the disease.
Egypt confirmed new coronavirus case for an Egyptian citizen returning from abroad, the state’s health ministry announced this afternoon.
On his part, Dr. Khaled Megahed, the official spokesperson for the Health Ministry, said that a 44-year-old Egyptian citizen, who was returning from Serbia after a 12-hour transit in France, has been diagnosed with coronavirus.
The spokesman added that the patient didn’t show any symptoms for the virus when he returned back home, but after a few days he was hospitalized after suffering similar symptoms to coronavirus. He pointed out that the Egyptian citizen tested positive earlier today and he is being transferred to the quarantine hospital, which is designated to provide the necessary medical care.
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