A worker in protective gear sprays disinfectant at Hurghada International Airport in Egypt. Reuters
In a statement, the Ministry of Health and Population's department of preventive medicine said all travellers from abroad will no longer have to fill out declaration forms upon arrival.
The government has recently launched the Visit Egypt online website, which allows incoming travellers to register their COVID-19 vaccination certificates on the website two days ahead of their trip in order to reduce processing time upon arrival.
The Egyptian Health Quarantine Department will assign a QR code to travellers who meet COVID-related requirements.
“The goal of cancelling the paper forms is to make life easier; the world is dealing with these issues digitally… all a passenger needs is to fill the required details on the [Visit Egypt] platform,” Health Ministry Spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar told Ahram Online.
Returning to routine cleansing
The health ministrty also cancelled exceptional COVID-focus disinfection of planes after each flight, with a return to normal santisation procedures.
In case a suspected or confirmed coronavirus case was detected onboard, the plane will be disinfected under the supervision of the quarantine department in accordance with World Health Organisation’s guide to hygiene and sanitation in aviation.
Abdel-Ghaffar said the decision comes as the country is witnessing improvement in the epidemiological situation as indicated by the ministry’s weekly update on the pandemic nationwide.
The average daily coronavirus infection and deaths tolls in Egypt have continued to decline this past week, with the country reporting an average of 400 infections and seven deaths per day, according to the latest weekly update issued by the ministry on Saturday.
Egypt, which relies on tourism revenues as a vital source of foreign currency, has been taking measures to support the tourism sector's recovery amid challenges posed by the pandemic as well as the Russia-Ukrainian war.
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