Egypt's health minister Hala Zayed said on Monday that no coronavirus cases have been detected nationwide. The 362 Egyptians who returned from China's Wuhan last week tested negative for coronavirus.

The ministry remains on high alert as precautionary measures at crossings and ports are adopted nationwide to avert the infiltration of the infectious virus into the country, according to the health ministry statement.

The minister has been closely following up, via video conference, the health condition of all Egyptians who returned from China and who have been quarantined in a hospital in the Mediterranean governorate of Marsa Matrouh since their arrival on 3 February, said the ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed.

He added that the ministry held about 12 awareness conferences for medical services providers to further educate them about the virus. 

Egyptians quarantined in Matrouh are monitored every eight hours by the medical team, Megahed said, noting that an online database has been created to gather all data on the results of their medical screenings.

Last week Egypt sent a jet to bring hundreds of Egyptians back home from Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, upon their request. 

The deadly virus, which spread in 24 other countries, first surfaced in December in Wuhan, killing above 800 people in China so far.