EgyptAir flight repatriates 216 nationals from Canada

A flight took off from Toronto Pearson International Airport with 216 Egyptian passengers on board on Friday en route to Marsa Alam. The passengers will be quarantined for 14 days in a hotel, reported Al-Ahram Arabic website on Saturday.

The Egyptian Ambassador in Canada Ahmed Abu Zeid said some Egyptians could not get on that plane, such as residents in remote areas in the Canadian west and students taking their final exams who were notified by their universities that they should leave the dorms after the exams.

These stranded Egyptians will be taken into account when arranging other repatriation flights, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Passengers will undergo medical check-ups upon landing in Marsa Alam International Airport before being quarantined at a hotel in the Red Sea city for 14 days.

Earlier this month, a flight from Washington DC carrying Egyptian passengers arrived in Marsa Alam and the passengers on board were quarantined for 14 days.

According to a statement by the tourism ministry, Maged Fawzy, the chairman of the Egyptian Hotel Association, said a hotel in the Red Sea city had received 293 Egyptian passengers and 13 children who were on the Washington flight.

The government has decided to quarantine all Egyptians returning to the country, and is requiring returnees to sign a written acknowledgement that they agree to the quarantine before boarding their flights.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi decided on Wednesday that the cost of their stay at hotels will be funded by the state.

Egypt reported its highest daily increase of coronavirus cases on Friday at 171 new infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,844. The country also reported nine new deaths bringing the total number of fatalities to 205.