Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.
The first case of the deadly coronavirus in Africa described as a global threat by the World Health Organization was confirmed in the north African country of Egypt on Friday.
Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mugahed said in a statement that the affected person was hospitalized and in isolation.
He said the foreign national did not show any serious sign but authorities were able to confirm the case a follow up program implemented by the government for travelers arriving from countries where the virus, that started in central, had spread.
It is the first case of coronavirus confirmed in Africa.
The virus, officially known as COVID-19, was first detected in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in Central China in December.
More than 1,400 people have been killed by the virus while over 65,000 people have been infected worldwide.
Most of the people who have died were living inside mainland China, but there have been three other deaths outside of China. One person died in Hong Kong, one in the Philippines and another in Japan.
