Egypt announces first death by Coronavirus

A German national is the first person to die in south-western Egypt as a result of Coronavirus. The announcement was made Sunday in a statement by the spokesman of the Ministry of Health.

The statement notes that the 60-year-old German national, who was admitted to a public hospital on March 6 and tested positive for the Coronavirus the next day, died on Sunday, March 9.

The ministry would like to point out that the German case is not among the 48 cases registered in total in Egypt, which include 45 people infected on a cruise ship, including passengers and crew members who were disembarked on Sunday in the south of the country.

And even if the cases are “asymptomatic”, the ministry nevertheless reveals that 11 of the crew members tested negative on Saturday after new tests. They were nonetheless placed in quarantine in a hospital, along with the 34 other cases, which are still positive.

The announcement of the death of the German patient comes at a time when the authorities are dealing with numerous infections on a cruise ship on which 45 cases were detected and evacuated to Luxor in the south.

On Sunday, Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced the ban on entry into Israel of anyone who has been in Egypt in the past two weeks, except for Israeli citizens and residents.

The persons concerned “will be banned from entering Israel by air, sea or land”, added Aryeh Deri.