506 stranded Egyptians in Kiev, Moscow land in Marsa Alam Int'l Airport

CAIRO, 1 May 2020: 164 stranded Egyptians have landed safely in Marsa Alam International Airport, Friday, on board of an exceptional flight coming from Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Most passengers coming on Air Cairo Flight number 2116 were reported to be Egyptian students according to source told Youm7 newspaper.

Deputy Director of the Department of Quarantine in the Red Sea governorate Kareem Hisham said in a statement, that all of the sterilization procedures for passengers, plane and luggage were taken shortly after landing.

All 164 passengers are currently being tested and to be quarantined for 14 days, Hisham added.

Another 342 stranded Egyptians are expected to arrive in Egypt during the few next hours coming from the Russian Capital Moscow.

The flight also considers to be an exceptional flight; as all aviation in Egypt has been suspended since March 19.

A source told Youm7 newspaper that all arrivals will be quarantined for 14 days according to procedures announced by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier on Friday, two exceptional flights carrying 288 stranded Egyptian citizens from four countries landed in Marsa Alam International Airport, in the southeast of Egypt, as Egypt has worked to repatriate all expatriates who are willing to return amid the coronavirus crisis.

The first flight carrying 152 citizens from both Maldives and Muscat landed on Thursday evening in the airport. The second flight landed on Friday morning carrying 136 nationals from Ethiopia and Kenya.

The flights were operated by Air Cairo airline, which is part-owned by the Egyptian flag carrier EgyptAir.

On April 22nd, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi noted that around 3,500 Egyptians are stranded abroad over coronavirus, affirming that authorities are committed to bringing them back despite "hard circumstances".

Egypt recorded, Friday 358 new coronavirus cases and 14 deaths, which raises the total infected patients of COVID-19 to 5,895 and the total deaths to 406 according to Health Minster’s daily briefing.

Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed added that 79 patients, were discharged from the hospital after being confirmed that they are completely recovered from the viruses, this also raises the number of recovered cases to 1,460 out of 1,875 who had been retested for the virus and had received negative results.