Egypt quarantines thousands in Red Sea region as coronavirus spreads

Cairo also upped the number of cases to 196 with two more deaths

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Displaced Syrian children and their parents attend a workshop organised by medical volunteers affiliated with a Turkish-registered Syrian relief organisation at a camp near the Syrian town of Atme close to the border with Turkey in Idlib province. AFP

King Abdullah II holds a meeting with officials on health issues amid a global rise in the coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Amman. AFP

An empty highway in Beirut is seen after Lebanon declared a medical state of emergency on Sunday. Reuters

Members of the Moroccan Interior Ministry Auxiliary Forces ask owners of a restaurant to close down, in Marrakesh. AFP

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A Palestinian sanitary department worker sprays disinfectant around the refugee camp of Aida in Bethlehem which has been under lockdown for more than a week due to the novel coronavirus epidemic. AFP

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A health worker disinfects the Enahli amusement park at Ariana near Tunis, which has been closed to the public. AFP

A doctor shows a test kit for coronavirus at the Central Public Health Laboratories in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

A doctor takes a sample for a Covid-19 test at the Central Public Health Laboratories in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

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Children wearing protective face masks are pictured on a bus in Algiers, Algeria. Reuters

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Egyptian authorities have quarantined thousands of workers in a Red Sea province where several popular resorts are located after 20 cases of coronavirus were discovered, the latest measure in an accelerating campaign by the government to prevent a mass outbreak of the disease that already has claimed six lives and nearly 200 people have tested positive.

Separately, the government introduced a package of measures to stave off an economic slump as a result of the outbreak of Covid-19.

The government has slashed interest rates by 300 basis – the largest single cut ever – reduced power charges for industries and pledged 1 billion pounds (Dh 232 million) to help exporters.

The government also reduced taxes on dividends given out by public companies and reduced those levied on transactions in the stock market, which has been hard hit by the slump with losses in the billions of pounds.

The government has already closed down schools and universities for two weeks, banned large gatherings and suspended sports events. It has also closed the Cairo zoo along with theatres and cinemas.

Late on Tuesday, the governor of the Red Sea province, Amr Hanafy, said all workers in the region would be quarantined for 14 days after employees at eight tourist establishments tested positive for the virus.

He said hotels and other sites would be sanitized after the last tourist leaves the province early next month aboard charter flights that would arrive there empty since the country has closed airports.

The Red Sea province is home to some of the busiest and most popular beach and diving resorts, including Hurghada, El Gouna, Soma Bay, Sahl Hasheesh and Marsa Alam.

Authorities are also stepping up tests in three provinces north and south of Cairo after discovering the number of cases there was above the national average.

In the Nile delta province of Daqahliyah – one of the three provinces – the government said some 300 families will be closely monitored and randomly checked because they came into contact with infected residents.

The Health Ministry, meanwhile, announced two more coronavirus-related deaths late on Tuesday. They said the pair were a 78-year-old Italian woman and a 70-year-old Egyptian man.

Confirmed cases of infections also rose to 196 from 150, the ministry said in a statement.

In Cairo, fear of the coronavirus has driven people off the normally bustling streets of the city of 20 million people. Traffic on Wednesday appeared to be at least 50 per cent lighter than what it is on a normal business day.

Many businesses, especially restaurants and cafes, were shuttered or had few patrons. Some remained open, but only offering takeaway food.

Those wearing protective masks remain a small minority in the Nile-side city, but supermarket workers are using them along with plastic gloves.

Egyptians are also continuing to empty supermarket shelves, packing shopping trolleys high with food, toilet papers and sanitizing materials.

Authorities are meanwhile sending out police patrols to ensure that gyms and private education centres are closed in line with new regulations.

Sheeshas, or the water pipes popular with Egyptians, have been confiscated from cafes, loaded into municipality trucks and taken away. Authorities are also monitoring markets to ensure that retailers are not taking advantage of the crisis to profiteer, but the price of certain items, particularly sanitizers, is continuing to rise.