CAIRO: Egyptian pilgrims are required to undergo medical check ups and to take a mandatory eight-day vacation after they arrive from Saudi Arabia, as per the Ministry of Health’s regulations.
Pilgrims arriving through any of Egypt’s 33 different ports will undergo a medical check up and will be required to provide a valid certificate to prove it, said Amr Kandil, deputy health minister for precautionary measures.
Pilgrims will also have to take a mandatory eight-day vacation from work as of the date of their arrival in case they are infected with H1N1.
In related news, a 36-year-old Egyptian man arriving from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after performing Hajj is being kept in quarantine at Cairo International Airport for suspicion of carrying the H1N1 virus, according to the press office at the Ministry of Health.
Kandil said that number of people infected with swine flu is expected to increase this winter as the virus is particularly active in low temperatures. He advised people to take all the necessary precautionary measures to prevent infections.
The swine flu death toll jumped the past weekend to 21 during Eid El-Adha holiday, with eight deaths reported over three days.
According to the health ministry’s latest swine flu update released last Wednesday, 3,216 cases of H1N1 were reported. These include 1,213 cases in schools and 169 cases in universities. Ninety-four percent of the patients have completely recovered and 181 cases are still receiving treatment in hospitals around the country.
