The Egyptian Ministry of Health announced Friday that it has registered the first case of a new coronavirus on the African continent. The carrier is not Egyptian, ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement, without specifying his nationality or gender. The World Health Organization (WHO) was informed and the patient, who had no "symptoms", was transferred to the hospital and quarantined for treatment, according to the ministry.
"Preventive measures" taken
"The ministry has taken preventive measures and is monitoring the progress of the case (...) which has stabilized," said Khaled Megahed. It is the first case recorded in a country on the African continent, which has strong commercial links with China and where health systems are sometimes dilapidated.
Egypt had suspended its national airline's flights with China from early February until the end of the month.
300 Egyptians evacuated from Wuhan
About 300 Egyptians had been evacuated in February from Wuhan, the epicenter of the Chinese city, and had been quarantined for 14 days.
The assessment of the epidemic of the new coronavirus approached the 1,400 deaths in China on Friday, which concentrates 99.9% of the deaths recorded in the world because of this virus.
So far, only Japan and the Philippines have each reported a death on their territory.