Egypt Calls for Vaccinating All Tourism Sector Employees

Tourists at the Giza pyramids (Reuters)
Tourists at the Giza pyramids (Reuters)
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Egypt Calls for Vaccinating All Tourism Sector Employees

Tourists at the Giza pyramids (Reuters)
Tourists at the Giza pyramids (Reuters)

The Egyptian Health Ministry said on Monday that all tourism sector workers in Luxor and Aswan governorates should be vaccinated against the coronavirus during August.

Health Minister Hala Zayed gave the directives while she inspected the isolation unit at Luxor International Airport.

Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement that Zayed stressed the Prime Minister’s decision not to allow any visitor to enter the country before showing a negative PCR test or a certificate proving they have been vaccinated with both doses of the COVID-19 jabs at least 14 days before arriving in Egypt.

Zayed said that 17,139 visitors have been so far quarantined at Luxor Airport.

Also on Monday, Advisor to Minister of Health for Information Technology Aysam Salah said the vaccine certificate cannot be forged because it has a QR code with the photo and identity of the person.

During an interview with a local TV channel, Salah said the certificates aim to help Egyptians traveling abroad to prove that they have been vaccinated.

Egypt recorded on Monday 49 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 284,311, including 230,699 recoveries and 16,528 deaths.



Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
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Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the United States will continue to urge Israel to do more to spare humanitarian sites in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli airstrike on a UN school complex sheltering displaced Palestinians killed six UN staffers.

When asked at a news conference in the Polish capital about Israel’s bombing of the school complex in central Gaza the day before, Blinken told reporters that “we need to see humanitarian sites protected.”

“That’s something we continue to raise with Israel,” he said.

Wednesday's strike on the UN-supported al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, hospital officials said. Among those killed were six staffers from the UN Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza.

UNRWA described the strike as the deadliest single incident for its staff members. Among those killed at the school, it said, were the manager of the shelter and others working to help the thousands of displaced people taking refuge there, including teachers.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said at least 220 UNRWA staffers have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s military offensive began in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Blinken blamed Hamas for continuing to hide its fighters among civilians and said the bombing “underscores the urgency" of reaching a cease-fire in the embattled territory.