Egypt Prepares COVID-19 Testing Centers at Airports

A man receives a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease in Cairo (Reuters)
A man receives a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease in Cairo (Reuters)
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Egypt Prepares COVID-19 Testing Centers at Airports

A man receives a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease in Cairo (Reuters)
A man receives a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease in Cairo (Reuters)

Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism established coronavirus PCR testing centers in some Egyptian airports near touristic cities.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Anani said that all residents of South Sinai and the Red Sea will be vaccinated by the end of June, noting that all workers in the tourism sectors in those governorates received their jabs.

The Minister added that inoculation of tourism workers has started in Cairo, Giza, Luxor, and Aswan, stressing that coronavirus test centers have been established in some Egyptian airports.

Tourists will be able to take their PCR test upon arrival, at a reduced price, in addition to the possibility of conducting antibody tests upon request before departing for their countries.

Anani expects a boom in the rates of Russian and Ukrainian tourists to South Sinai and Red Sea governorates, noting that there is a noticeable turnout during the current period of tourists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stressed that the government will exert all efforts to support the tourism sector while maintaining the precautionary and preventive measures that will be adopted internationally to restore the safe tourism movement during the pandemic.

Madbouly was speaking Friday on the sidelines of the inauguration of the first forum of heads of African investment agencies in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The Health Ministry said 755 new coronavirus cases were detected on Thursday, raising the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak in the country began to 271,047, including 199,285 recoveries and 15,510 deaths.

Egypt has until now received 5.6 million doses of AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Sinovac vaccines.



Lebanese PM Slams Int’l Community’s ‘Silence over Israeli Crimes’

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)
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Lebanese PM Slams Int’l Community’s ‘Silence over Israeli Crimes’

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed on Monday the international community’s “silence over Israel’s crimes and destruction” in his country.

“The international community is complicit in these crimes when countries that champion humanity and human rights should be applying maximum pressure on Israel to make it stop its assault,” he added during meetings held with the ambassadors of the five permanent member states of the United Nations Security Council.

Mikati handed the ambassadors a report by the Health Ministry detailing the damage incurred by the sector from the Israeli raids.

He noted the threats to “priceless cultural heritage” in the cities of Tyre and Baalbek as a result of Israel’s attacks.

Moreover, he reiterated his government’s commitment to Security Council resolution 1701 and its determination to deploy the army in the South.

“It has welcomed every call for a ceasefire, while the Israeli enemy has turned against all proposed solutions and forged ahead in committing war crimes against Lebanon, even reaching its historic sites. These attacks are additional crimes against humanity that should be confronted and stopped,” he urged.

The PM underscored the need for pressure to end the assault to pave the way for talks over how to implement resolution 1701.

Furthermore, he said the government had approved during a recent meeting increasing the presence of army in the South and recruiting more troops. In its next meeting, the ministers will discuss the executive steps to support the recruitment of 1,500 soldiers.

Mikati met with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, UK Chargé D'Affaires Victoria Dunne, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Aleksandr Rudakov, China’s Ambassador Qian Minjian, French Ambassador Herve Magro, and Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze.