The Association of Egyptian Travel Agencies has stopped tourism flights from and to China and it's awaiting further notification as a precaution after the outburst of the fatal coronavirus, the association declared on Sunday in a statement.
The association called off all the Chinese tourism companies’ bookings in Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and Aswan in Egypt, the statement continued.
The temporary stop has a chance to impact the revenues earner from tourism as China gives out about 10 percent of its inbound tourism to Egypt, said member at the association Osama Munir.
In a declaration, the Egyptian Embassy in China said that it has developed a follow-up committee that would get in touch with the Egyptian community in Wuhan, calling upon the Egyptians residing in the province to contact the embassy on the phone number (+20) 1065322541.
The embassy explained that until now, the registered number of Egyptian expatriates in the province has reached 315.
Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular and Expatriates Affairs, Mr. Yasser Mahmoud Hashim has confirmed that in the province, no positive cases were reported among Egyptians, adding that the embassy will support out and out to all the expats in light of the Chinese Government’s decision to put Wuhan under quarantine and postpone all transportation to and from the city. So far, 13 people have died of the virus.
“A mobile application was also created to communicate with all Egyptian students in China,” President of Banha University Hassan al-Maghrby said. He further added by saying that data of the 100 Egyptian students and their relatives have been listed in the application, noting that other phone numbers were specialized to receive the complaints from the students. The university president declared that all students are safe.
As per the Chinese minister of health, about 56 people have died of the virus and over 2,000 have been confirmed to have infected worldwide. Also, the Chinese authorities have declared that the virus could spread quickly.
In the meantime, Minister of Health, Hala Zayed, has confirmed that Egypt hasn’t affected by the deadly virus, adding on Sunday during her inspection tour at the Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport that the ministry has by now has adopted all the necessary measures against it.
The Ministry of Health, Egypt, had earlier declared a state of emergency in quarantines at all the air, maritime and ground outlets of the state as a protection against the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
