Egypt's Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed announced, on Saturday, that additional precautionary measures have been put in place against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These measures cover quarantine facilities at all entry points to the country. Zayed announced her decision as new mutations of the coronavirus have been reported in many countries. The decision was taken during a videoconference meeting held on Friday evening, held in the presence of: Mohamed Hassani, Assistant Minister of Health and Population for Public Health Initiatives; Mohamed Abdel Fattah, Head of the Central Administration for Preventive Affairs; and a number of the ministry's concerned officials. During the meeting, Zayed and her assistants reviewed the preventive and precautionary measures for the coronavirus that are currently being applied at quarantine facilities at the entry points to Egypt. The ministry said in a statement that the implementation of additional precautionary measures at quarantine facilities includes a rapid test for all arrivals to Egypt. This will be applied to all arrivals from countries in which mutations of the virus have appeared, whether they were Egyptians or non-Egyptians. The arrivals will also be given a general check. According to the statement, the rapid examination, which does not exceed 15 minutes, uses modern technology that is both speedy and accurate in detecting cases. Zayed also highlighted the continued implementation of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly's decision regarding controls, procedures, and health requirements for arrivals to Egypt. The procedures cover both Egyptian nationals as well as non-Egyptians, and requires that all arrivals should obtain a negative PCR test immediately prior to entering the country. Moreover, Zayed said that Egypt will continue to implement all epidemiological surveillance measures for the coronavirus at all entry points to the country. This is in addition to the continuation of laboratory and clinical examinations for all arrivals to Egypt. She further noted that just over 5.411 million arrivals have been checked at quarantine facilities available at all entry points in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.
