A foreigner in Egypt who was thought to be carrying the coronavirus has tested negative for it, the health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The results came 48 hours following the foreigner’s admission to a specially designated hospital for isolation, after being announced as Egypt’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus on February 14, said the statement carried by Egyptian state TV.
Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed explained that a medical team has been conducting periodic checks and analysis on the foreigner.
The PCR analysis was conducted six times over three consecutive days, under the supervision of the Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) – the results proving negative each time.
WHO Representative in Egypt John Jabbour said that all measures taken to monitor this situation were carried out in full cooperation with the organization, following its scientific and technical guidelines especially regarding laboratory tests.
The virus, which has been recently named COVID-19, emerged in China in December. Since then, more than 74,000 people have been infected, with more than 2,000 deaths being reported, mostly in China.
