Egypt's Ministry of Health announced in a statement late on Sunday that seven new coronavirus (Covid-19) cases have been detected in the country, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 55.

Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said that the cases confirmed on Sunday were three Egyptians and four foreigners.

Megahed explained that one of the Egyptians had just returned from a Umrah trip, and the other two had come in contact with an Egyptian who returned from Serbia.

The four infected foreigners had come in contact with a German citizen who later died on Sunday.

The 60-year-old German man is Egypt's first and so far only death from the virus.

Forty-five of the total number of cases were detected on a Nile cruise ship arriving in Luxor from Aswan, Megahed said in his statement.

According to Megahed, those who tested positive for the virus on the cruise ship were transferred to a quarantine hospital, and those who tested negative were also placed in quarantine. The cruise ship has been disinfected and sterilised, he added.

Megahed also said that the first case was confirmed in Egypt on 14 February and was a Chinese man who later recovered and left isolation after getting medical treatment.

The second case was announced early in March and was a Canadian oil worker who is currently at the quarantine hospital receiving medical care. His condition is stable and is consistently improving, according to Megahed.

Megahed asserted that the 2,564 employees at the Canadian man's workplace and their contacts are still in quarantine as a precautionary measure, explaining that there are no suspected cases among them so far.

A third case was discovered last Thursday in a 44-year-old Egyptian citizen who had returned from Serbia and spent a 12-hour transit in France.

According to Megahed, the third patient is in the isolation hospital and his condition "slightly improved" on Sunday.