Exceptional flight brings back 153 stranded Egyptians from Muscat

CAIRO – 28 May 2020: Marsa Alam International Airport, in the southeast of Egypt, has received an exceptional flight carrying 153 Egyptians from the Omani capital Muscat, as part of Egypt’s plan to repatriate all stranded Egyptians abroad over the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

The plane landed in the airport on Wednesday evening. This is the third exceptional plane to arrive from Muscat, a source at the airport said.

The expatriated arrivals have been tested for coronavirus and were moved to a hotel to be quarantined for seven days.

Since the coronavirus crisis started, EgyptAir, the Egyptian flag carrier, has operated many exceptional flights to several countries, including the US, UK, Maldives, Kuwait, South Sudan and Kenya, to bring back stranded Egyptians abroad.

On April 22nd, Egyptian 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".

This comes while Egypt has witnessed a major rise in coronavirus cases during the past period. Assistant Health Minister Mohamed Fawzy said the next period will see a peak of coronavirus infections in Egypt.

However, he said the quarantine hospitals nationwide still have vacant places for new cases and that the medical and preventive requirements are available in large quantities.

The Egyptian Health Ministry in its daily briefing on Wednesday said 910 people have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in Egypt over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 19,666.

The ministry also reported 19 deaths due to the novel virus, upping the total number to 816.

Also, the test results of 5,798 people turned from positive to negative, the ministry said, including 5,205 people who totally recovered. It added that 178 patients left hospitals.