Egypt s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty will be tested for the coronavirus after he had met with a provincal governor who was later diagnosed with the flu-like disease, ministry spokesman Mohamed El-Sebaie said in TV comments late on Monday.
Daqahliya governor Aymen Mokhtar announced his infection on Monday evening after he had met with the minister earlier on the day to discuss projects in the governorate.
The minister said in a statement late on Monday that he was in good condition, adding that preventative measures had been taken during the meeting including wearing face masks and gloves and following physical distancing rules.
All people who had come in contact with the infected governor will be examined and the ministry s office, where the meeting was held, will be sanitised, according to the ministry.
The governor said he was tested for the virus after showing some symptoms two days after a director at the governorate office tested positive for COVID-19.
The governor had also met with local development minister Mahmoud Sharawy last week, he said as he spoke to satellite TV channel MBC, noting that all people who had come into contact with him would be traced and tested.
He will be transferred to a quarantine hospital in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya.
The local development minister also said all prevention measures were followed during the 10 May meeting, adding that his ministry s office had been sanitised several times since the meeting.
All the ministry s workers and visitors have their temperature measured before entering the ministry building, he added.
Egypt has so far registered 12,764 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 645 fatalities.
