The United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirmed on Wednesday that they have detected the first case in the Middle East of the coronavirus. According to the UAE’s Ministry of Health statement, the virus was diagnosed in a Chinese family. The family is in stable condition and under medical observation.
Sudan’s health authorities have also confirmed on Wednesday, recording two cases suspected of Coronavirus. The two Sudanese people were visiting China recently.
Until writing this story, at least 132 people were killed due to the virus, and about 6,000 others have been infected globally.
On Tuesday evening, Minister of Health Hala Zayed discussed with the Deputy Head of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Egypt, cooperation between the two countries to confront the emerging Coronavirus.
Khaled Mogahed, the Ministry’s official spokesperson, said that the meeting dealt with the latest updates in China regarding the new Coronavirus, in addition to the Egyptian Ministry of Health’s precautionary plan to address the virus and prevent it from entering the country.
The meeting also touched on the conditions of the Egyptian community residing in China, and the Chinese community in Egypt.
Zayed stressed that the Egyptian authorities will provide all means of support to Chinese residents in Egypt, allowing them to benefit from the medical services provided in governmental hospitals.
The ministry reiterated that “No cases of infected or suspected Coronavirus infection had been detected in Egypt,” noting that the ministry’s concerned hospitals are in full readiness for any urgent cases.
Officially known as 2019-nCoV, the virus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses with some causing less-severe disease, such as the common cold, and others causing more severe disease such as MERS and SARS.
Some transmit easily from person to person, while others do not. Symptoms of the virus include fever and cough, and some people should have difficulty breathing. The symptoms appear to set in at some point between two days and two weeks after the person’s exposure to the virus.
