Egypt’s Health Ministry has confirmed the first case of the new virus in the North African country. The affected person was a “foreigner” who is carrying the virus but not showing any serious symptoms, Health spokesman Khaled Mugahed said in a statement Friday.
The development made Egypt the first country in the African continent to report a confirmed case, and the second in the Middle East region, after the United Arab Emirates late last month diagnosed its first cases.
The ministry statement said the person was hospitalised and in isolation. It did not specify the person’s nationality or their point of entry.
The statement did not specify the person’s nationality or what port of entry he or she arrived at in Egypt.
The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in central China, in December last year.
It has so far killed almost 1,400 people and infected nearly 65,000 others globally.
Three deaths have been recorded outside mainland China – one in Hong Kong, one in the Philippines and the most recent in Japan.
More than two dozen countries have confirmed cases and several nations have evacuated their citizens from Hubei.
The Egypt case would be the first in the African continent. Experts and African leaders have expressed concern that should the virus spread there, it might wreak havoc among less developed countries with fewer health resources.
WHO Egypt said on Twitter the person was carrying the virus, but had not shown any symptoms and was in a stable condition. The health organization has warned the virus poses a “grave threat” to the world.
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