Egypt has said it is upping coronavirus preventive measures for all hotel guests and workers nationwide after the discovery of 12 new cases on board a Nile cruise ship.

Abdel-Fattah El-Assi, the head of the tourism ministry department responsible for monitoring hotels and resorts, said his ministry has sent a leaflet to all hotels and tourism institutions in Egypt on the necessary preventive measures, per guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO).

He added, in a statement released by the health ministry, that the Egyptian Tourism Federation and the Egyptian Hotels Association were notified of the necessity of circulating decisions by the cabinet obliging hotels to report any suspected cases to the health ministry.

Maged Fawzy, the chairman of the Egyptian Hotels Association, said the group had sent a circular to all of the association's units nationwide on coordinating with the health ministry to hold awareness campaigns on the disease.

Earlier on Friday, Egypt said it had detected 12 new coronavirus cases on “a Nile cruise ship coming from Aswan to Luxor,” according to a joint statement by the health ministry and WHO, bringing the total number of cases observed in the country to 15.

The 12 cases, all Egyptian workers on the ship, have been referred to an isolation hospital, with others believed to be in contact with them placed in quarantine for 14 days, to follow up on their health condition.

The joint health ministry and WHO statement didn't clarify how many passengers were on the cruise, their nationalities, or their current whereabouts, although it said that the cases had likely been infected by a Taiwanese-American tourist who had since returned to the US and tested positive.

On Thursday, Egypt announced the first confirmed Egyptian case in the country; the sufferer is a recent returnee from Europe.

The country’s two previous cases were both foreign nationals; one has since recovered.

Egypt said it is upping preventive measures for all hotel guests and workers nationwide against novel coronavirus, a statement by the health ministry read, hours after the country detected 12 new cases on board of a Nile cruise ship.

Abdel-Fattah El-Assi, head of the tourism ministry's sector responsible for monitoring hotels and resorts, said his ministry has sent a circulated leaflet to all hotels and tourism institutions to Egypt on the necessary preventive measures per guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO) over the epidemic.

He added that the Egyptian Tourism Federation and the Egyptian Hotels Association were notified of the necessity of circulating decisions by the Cabinet obliging hotels to report to the health ministry on any suspected cases.

Maged Fawzy, the Chairman of The Egyptian Hotel Association, said the association have sent a circulation to all of the association's units nationwide on coordinating with the health ministry to hold awareness campaigns on the disease.

The move comes hours after Egypt said it detected 12 new coronavirus cases on “a Nile cruise ship coming from Aswan to Luxor,” a joint statement by the health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) said, bringing the total number of cases observed in the country to 15.

The 12 cases have been referred to an isolation hospital, with others believed to be in contact with them currently placed in quarantine for 14 days, to follow up on their health conditions.

The statement didn't clarify how many passengers were on the cruise or their nationalities or wherabouts.

Friday's announcement comes one day after Egypt announced the first confirmed case in the country of an Egyptian, a recent returnee from Europe.

The two previous cases were both foreign nationals; one has since recovered.