Egypt evacuates over 190 stranded nationals from Chad, Ghana, South Sudan

A charter flight - Pixabay 

CAIRO – 7 May 2020: An exceptional flight is set to land in Egypt’s Marsa Alam International Airport, carrying around 160 stranded Egyptians from Chad and Ghana, a source at the airport told Egypt Today, as Egyptian authorities vowed to repatriate stranded nationals amid the coronavirus crisis.

All the passengers would undergo the necessary preventive procedures, including being tested for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and being quarantined for two weeks once they arrive at the airport, the source noted.

The airport, in the southeast of Egypt, received on Wednesday a plane coming from Juba carrying 35 Egyptian nationals who were stranded by the novel virus, state’s news agency MENA reported.

Quarantine teams of the Red Sea Health Directorate received the passengers to conduct medical check-ups before taking them to their residence in a Marsa Alam hotel where they will spend 14 days in quarantine.

Since the coronavirus crisis started, EgyptAir, the Egyptian flag carrier, has operated many exceptional flights to several countries, including the US, UK, Maldives, Kuwait 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".

Libya transfers 200 stranded Egyptians to border crossing over coronavirus^[1]

In a video obtained by Egypt Today, a Libyan Interior Ministry official said the authorities secured the movement of 200 Egyptians to the border crossing. He added that a security force will be tasked with gathering stranded Egyptians in Al Uqaylah city t

On Wednesday, the Egyptian Health Ministry said 387 people in the country tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) recently, making one of the highest daily counts in Egypt, and 17 people died with the virus.

This brings the total number of reported cases and deaths to 7,588 and 469 respectively, the ministry said.

The test results of 2,314 people of the reported cases turned from positive to negative, including 1,815 people who fully recovered.

Also, 85 cases, all of them Egyptians, left hospital after they recovered, according to the instructions of the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

References

1. ^{^} Libya transfers 200 stranded Egyptians to border crossing over coronavirus (www.egypttoday.com)