Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed has revealed the ministry's precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus in Egypt as well as its plan to deal with it.

Zayed said that passengers arriving in the country's airports and seaports are being subjected to medical tests and that anyone suspected of having the virus will be quarantined for 14 days. The minister added that all passengers arriving from countries where the virus has spread are tested periodically for 14 days.

Zayed said that these measures are in accordance with the procedures announced by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The minister added that the ministry has put in place a plan on dealing with an outbreak based on the severity of symptoms.

Suspected patients who are suffering mild symptoms of the virus will be put in home-based quarantine, whereas suspected patients with moderate symptoms will taken to a hospital specially equipped to deal the situation, the minister said, adding that such hospitals are in every governorate in the country with a capacity of 522 beds.

If any patients display severe symptoms, a state of emergency will be declared, Zayed added.

In case of a widespread outbreak, the assigned hospitals will be designated completely to dealing with coronavirus cases.

Egypt's Ministry of Health and the WHO announced a week ago that the foreign national who was found to be carrying the coronavirus in Egypt had tested negative for the disease.

Early in February, Egypt brought back hundreds of its nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan and put them under quarantine for 14 days in El-Negelah Central Hospital in Marsa Matrouh. None of them have tested positive for the virus.

Since the disease emerged last December, it has killed more than 2,700 people in mainland China and 44 people outside the country.