President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered the Tahya Misr Fund (Long Live Egypt Fund) to pay for the costs of quarantine for Egyptian returnees staying in hotels across the country, said Minister of State for Media Osama Heikal.
During a telephone interview with Ahmed Mossa’s “Alaa Mas’olity” TV show on Wednesday, Heikal said that this decision includes Egyptians who have returned during the past two days.
The quarantine period will last for 14 days as scheduled so far, he added.
Egyptian expatriates wishing to return must sign an avowal stating that upon arrival back to Egypt they will be quarantined in a place determined by the Health Ministry for 14 days, Cabinet Spokesperson Nader Saad said.
Anyone refusing to sign the avowal will be barred from boarding a flight back to Egypt, he stressed.
Returnees will stay in a hotel with their own expense at a reduced price (less than 50 percent) with medical services provided free of charge to them, he added.
He referred to a group of Egyptians returning from Kuwait who rejected being quarantined at a hotel and insisted on returning nonetheless.
“We conducted initial checks on the returnees from Kuwait and they all tested negative. We asked them to stay home, but what they did was irresponsible behavior that reflected excessive selfishness,” he said.
Egypt confirmed six additional deaths and 69 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s number of confirmed total cases so far to 779.
Fifty-two people have died from the virus in Egypt.
These newly infected cases are all Egyptian nationals who returned from abroad or were in contact with previously confirmed cases in Egypt, Health Ministry Spokesperson Khaled Megahed said, adding that the total number of fully-recovered cases rose to 179 on Wednesday, all of whom have been discharged from isolation hospitals.
Twenty-two cases left quarantine on Wednesday.
