Medical equipment to receive Egyptians from China cost $65M: Min.

CAIRO - 4 February 2020: Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Monday that the cost of medical equipment necessary to receive Egyptians in Marsa Matrouh governorate from the Chinese city of Wuhan is worth $65 million.

Zayed’s remarks came during a phone call on Sada al-Balad channel. The minister added that those Egyptians will be quarantined for 14 days to make sure that they are safe from coronavirus. She also said that the hospital has 59 ICU beds, and 59 artificial respiration units.



Zayed confirmed that President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ordered the provision of the highest standards for the returning Egyptians without regard to cost.



"The plane returned on Monday at 1 p.m. carrying more than 300 Egyptians; the quarantine rooms are fully equipped," Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar told Extra News channel on Sunday, Feb.2.



The plane crew was trained to deal with the passengers and was given appropriate clothes for the task. "Six doctors accompanied them on board during the trip," he added.

Manar pointed out that quarantine doctors were dispatched to all airports to deal with passengers who had passed through countries that reported cases infected with the coronavirus.

In January, Ambassador Liao Liqiang said that no cases were reported among the Chinese community in Egypt, and the Chinese tourists will be leaving Egypt in five days. He added that no cases were detected amongest the Egyptian students in China.

Spokesperson of the Health Ministry Khaled Mugahed also said no coronavirus patients have been recorded in Egypt.

The Ministry of Health launched campaigns in seven governorates in Egypt to check Chinese restaurants and to activate means of health control in conjunction with the panic that is sweeping the world from the coronavirus.