The COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Egypt on 14 February 2020.
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. Model-based simulations for Egypt indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t has fluctuated around 1.0 since August 2020.
Timeline
2020
February
Egypt's health ministry announced the first case in the country at Cairo International Airport involving a Chinese national on 14 February. Egyptian authorities had notified the World Health Organization (WHO) and the patient had been placed in quarantined isolation in hospital. Preventive measures were subsequently taken to monitor those who came into contact with the person where the others tested negative. In late February and early March, multiple foreign severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases associated with travel to Egypt were reported – including two cases in the United States, two cases in Tunisia (Plus several potential cases as the two initial cases were part of 1,000 now quarantined football supporters who visited Egypt from Tunis from 27 February to 1 March) two cases in France, one case in Canada, and one case in Taiwan. On 28 February, the Egyptian cabinet officially denied rumors of covering up SARS-CoV-2 cases. On 1 March, Qatar banned all arrivals from Egypt, excepting Qatari nationals, as a safety measure to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2. On the same day, Egypt announced the detection of a second case of SARS-CoV-2. On 2 March, Kuwait announced that it would test all arrivals from Egypt and Syria for SARS-CoV-2. It was estimated by Egypt Watch that Egypt had 20 lab-confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2, which was reported by Middle East Monitor on 2 March. The people with confirmed cases were claimed to be held in military hospitals, inaccessible to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and official health statistics reported to WHO. Confirmed cases allegedly absent from official statistics included a family in Tanta Military Hospital and four people in Qasr El Eyni Hospital.