CAPE TOWN - An exceptional flight carrying more than 160 Egyptian nationals who were stranded in Chad and Ghana was expected to land at Marsa Alam International Airport as part of a series of expatriation flights set to take place this week, online news publication Egypt Today reported.
According to Egyptian authorities, all returning citizens will be tested for Covid-19 and placed in quarantine for two weeks.
On Wednesday, 35 Egyptian citizens returned from Juba, South Sudan, and were placed in quarantine for 14 days at a Marsa Alam hotel.
According to online news publication Egypt Independent, Egyptian Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram said that the ministry aimed to repatriate all stranded Egyptians before the holy day of Eid-ul-Fitr.
During a television interview, the minister explained that the government was treating stranded citizens without discrimination and would welcome home anyone who wanted to return, reported Egypt Independent.
Earlier this week, a special flight operated by EgyptAir saw Marsa Alam International Airport receiving 339 nationals from Washington, DC, who were placed in quarantine for 14 days.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who also heads up the national repatriation committee, has announced that repatriated citizens will be quarantined at university hostels at the state's expense, reported Egypt News Today.
The country has repatriated just over 3,500 Egyptian nationals since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
Since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the town of Wuhan, China, in 2019, close to 3.8 million people have contracted the novel coronavirus.
By Wednesday, Egypt had recorded 387 new cases, taking the North African country's total to 7,588 confirmed cases, with 469 deaths and 1,815 recoveries.