CAIRO: No coronavirus cases have been detected in tourists in Egypt in the past three months, according to Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Rady.
Rady said that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had paid great attention to the tourism sector and Egyptian citizens. The pandemic was a surprise test for state sectors but Egypt had dealt with the crisis successfully.
The country had made great efforts to confront the repercussions of the coronavirus, he said. The minister of health had indicated that the incentive packages implemented had supported the tourism sector, and the president had renewed the directive to protect employment in this area.
Rady said that indicators of the resumption of tourism in Egypt were linked to the international situation and that there were signs of the return of visitors, especially from countries in the Eastern Bloc.
He said that tourists visiting the Red Sea, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada did not record any coronavirus cases, despite the large number of people coming from different countries.
Rady said that the situation was under control but called on citizens to continue to adhere to health precautions.
Soha Bahgat, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said that the state was making a constant effort to support the sector during the pandemic.
Bahgat added that the state had issued a set of executive packages to support the sector during the coronavirus crisis, most significantly for workers. This was represented by the continued subsidy provided by the emergency fund at the Ministry of Solidarity, she said, referring to the exemptions from paying fees for arrivals to tourist governorates until April 2021.
Bahgat indicated the renewed approval of the Cabinet to postpone electricity, gas and water payments for tourism and hotel facilities until Dec. 31, 2020.
She said that 300,000 tourists from 15 countries had visited Egypt since the gradual return of tourism began, and considered this number very reasonable in light of the global pandemic.
