Ministry of Environment bans training inside, outside Egypt due to coronavirus

CAIRO - 16 March 2020: "Egypt’s Ministry of Environment banned travel for training abroad or attending training activities inside Egypt amid fears of coronavirus (Covid 19) spread," said the ministry in a statement on Sunday.

"These measures aim to confront the virus inside the Ministry of Environment and its branches," said Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad, adding PRC tests will be carried out for employees of the ministry returning from other countries.

To prevent the spread of coronavirus, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi decreed the suspension of schools and universities for two weeks as of Sunday, March 15.

Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed announced Saturday a new case of coronavirus, to have the tally of patients in Egypt rising to 110. She added that four coronavirus cases left quarantine, after they tested negative for the disease, bringing the total number of cured people to 32.

Coronavirus has forced many countries to suspend their flights around the globe after the infected cases reached 157,483 people and 5,845 deaths were reported to date. On March 10, 2020, the virus was announced a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.

“WHO is deeply concerned by the alarming levels of the coronavirus spread, severity & inaction, & expects to see the number of cases, deaths & affected countries climb even higher. Therefore, we made the assessment that COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusin in a press conference.