Crew of ship coming from China to Egypt’s Damietta quarantined

CAIRO – 6 February 2020: The authorities of Damietta Port, in northeastern Egypt, decided to quarantine the crew of a ship coming from Shanghai, China’s biggest city, as part of national efforts to prevent coronavirus from entering the North African country.

The security authorities took security measures on the ship, dubbed “Magic Seas” and dealt with its crew while wearing protective suits, a statement said. The ship carried iron sheets.

As a precautionary measure, the port authorities request a copy of the medical reports of the crew of any ship coming from or passing through China, before it enters the port, including temperature checks, according to the statement.

The deadly virus that emerged in December in Wuhan, Hubei province in Central China killed around 565 people, including 563 in China, and injured over 28,000 people globally, according to CNN.

Egyptian Health Ministry has affirmed that no cases of coronavirus have been detected so far.

Egypt’s national airline EgyptAir announced suspending flights between Egypt and China starting from February 4th. Earlier in February, Egypt repatriated its citizens in the city of Wuhan. Health Minister Hala Zayed ordered quarantining the repatriated citizens for 14 days to make sure they do not carry the coronavirus.

The ministry allocated a special building in al-Negila hospital in Matrouh governorate, in northwestern Egypt, to test the repatriated citizens for the deadly virus.

Also, a number of Egyptian importers suspended signing deals to import Chinese garlic because of coronavirus; however, the quantities contracted upon previously are being received.

Head of Vegetables and Fruits Unit at the Chamber of Commerce Hatem Naguib affirmed that Chinese garlic circulating in the Egyptian market is safe as it had entered the country before the rise of the virus, and was subject to screening by the General Organization For Export and Import Control.