The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Egypt has a considerable opportunity to contain the spread of the coronavirus with inclusive government and society mechanisms. 

“There is a critical window of opportunity to effectively control outbreak and prevent community transmission, taking a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office said on Twitter.

The organisation hailed what it described as the “solid work being done [in Egypt] to control [the] outbreak, especially in the areas of disease detection and contact tracing, laboratory testing, and referral of patients.”

WHO said it will continue to work with Egypt to “enhance infection prevention and control at all levels, identify alternative mechanisms for testing patients; and coordinating public communication, especially with vulnerable groups.”

The deadly respiratory disease has killed 21 people in Egypt and infected 456.