CAIRO, March 16 — Egypt will halt all air traffic at its airports from Thursday until March 31 to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said today.

Egypt will sanitise hotels and tourist sites during the closure, he said in a news conference, adding that tourists now in the country would be able to complete their vacations.

Madbouly said Egypt’s strategic reserves of key commodities would last for months and there was no need for people to stock up.

He said local firms in the aviation sector would suffer losses of 2.25 billion Egyptian pounds (RM610 million) due to the latest measures. The last plane allowed to depart would leave today, March 19, at noon.

Tourism is a key sector for the most populous Arab country. Tourism revenue rose to a record high of US$12.57 billion (RM54.2 billion) in the financial year that ended in July.

Revenue continued to rise in the July-Sept quarter, the latest data published by the central bank, to US$4.19 billion, the country’s best quarter ever.

Egypt closed schools and universities for two weeks on Sunday to prevent the spread of coronavirus as the number of cases rose, reaching 126 on Sunday. Two people have died. — Reuters