Egypt said on Monday it was suspending all air travel starting on Thursday until the end of the month as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the nation of 100 million people.
The announcement, made by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli in a televised news conference, was by far the most drastic measure taken by the government to combat the virus.
Authorities have already banned large gatherings, closed schools and universities for two weeks, suspended all sports activities and closed theatres and gyms. Prison visits have been suspended for 10 days.
So far, 150 cases of coronavirus have been detected and two deaths due to the virus – a German tourist and an Egyptian woman, both in their 60s.
On Monday, Mr Madbouli said the suspension of air travel was expected to cost the national air carrier about 2.25 billion pounds (Dh 520 million) in lost revenues.
"Our sole aim is to safeguard the lives and health of Egyptians," he told the news conference.
He said the suspension on Thursday would allow foreign tourists already in the country to complete their visit before they leave and that the duration of the suspension would be used to sanitize hotels before air travel resumes.
Mr Madbouli also denounced the rush to buy consumer goods by Egyptians in anticipation of a possible lockdown and vowed to bring the full weight of the law down on merchants taking advantage of the crisis to manipulate prices to maximize profit.
He also announced that the number of government employees reporting to work would be reduced to minimize the potential for infections.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi announced over the weekend that a 100 billion pounds have been set aside to efforts to combat the coronavirus.
