A passenger wears a protective mask at Cairo International Airport, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt March 10, 2020. (Reuters)
Egypt has reported two new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the total death toll in the country to six, a Tuesday statement by the health ministry read.
Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed also said 30 new coronavirus cases have been detected, bringing the total to 196.
The two reported deaths were of a 78-year-old Italian woman and a 70-year-old Egyptian man, he said. Both died at the designated isolation hospital where Egypt is quarantining coronavirus patients.
Preventive measures were underway for the deceased Egyptian man’s family and those believed to be in contact with him.
Megahed did not provide details about the nationalities of the 30 new cases.
He said that the number of those cleared of the disease had risen to 26 in total, as of Tuesday.
They are part of a total of 34 confirmed cases who have now received negative lab results.
The announcement comes one day after 300 families were placed under quarantine in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya, after a number of coronavirus cases and a second fatality were confirmed in the area on Monday.
Egypt has upped its preventive measures to combat the spread of the virus, suspending international flights from 19 to 31 March.
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