Contacts of infected deputy Aswan governor test negative for coronavirus

CAIRO – 29 May 2020: All contacts of Ghada Yehia, deputy Aswan governor whose test results showed earlier she has contracted coronavirus (COVID-19), have tested negative for the novel virus, said deputy health minister in Upper Egypt’s Aswan.

Ehab Hanafy told Egypt Today that authorities continue their sterilization campaigns in the governorate’s office after Yehia tested positive for the pandemic.

A statement by the governorate’s office earlier said that Yehia would be quarantined at home and would receive the necessary medical care, adding that contacts would be also tested.

This comes a week after the governor of Dakahlia, in northern Egypt, tested positive for coronavirus and said he infected his wife. Luckily, his mother and sons have not been infected, governor Ayman Mokhtar said.

Upon tracing, 51 contacts of Mokhtar have tested negative for the deadly virus.

Also, Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aati, said he was doing well after meeting Mokhtar, before the infection was detected.

All anti-COVID 19 precautionary health measures were taken at this meeting such as social distancing, the disinfection of the office, the testing of attendees and the wearing of face masks and gloves, he added in a statement on Tuesday.

Egypt recorded 1,127 new coronavirus, COVID-19 cases, Thursday, raising the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak in Egypt to 20,793.

Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said in the daily briefing that 29 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 845.

As many as 154 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 5,359 so far, the spokesman said.

The number of coronavirus patients who had now been retested for the virus and received negative results has reached 6,019, he added.