Coronavirus: 300 Kuwaitis evacuated from Egypt

Cairo: Around 300 Kuwaitis will fly back home from Egypt as part of evacuation prompted by coronavirus concerns, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported Monday.

The voluntary evacuation is being carried out aboard flights of the national carrier Kuwait Airways and in coordination with the Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo, the paper said, citing an informed source at Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

“Two planes have been dispatched to the Arab Republic of Egypt to transport those who wish to return,” the source added.

The first flight is due to return from Cairo Monday evening and the second on Wednesday.

The returnees will be placed under house quarantine after they undergo the necessary tests to ensure they are free of the coronavirus.

Egypt is one of seven countries with which Kuwait this week suspended flights over fears of the spread of the Covid-19.

The Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo Saturday urged Kuwaitis in Egypt to contact it “as soon as possible” to arrange their repatriation.

Egypt has reported 55 confirmed cases of the viral ailment and one related death.