CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt reported 703 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the health ministry said, the lowest figure since late May.
In total, 86,474 COVID-19 cases have been reported and 4,188 deaths, including 68 on Friday, the ministry said in a statement.
Egypt reopened resorts to foreign tourists on July 1 after tourism came to a halt in March under measures to curb the coronavirus outbreak. But Egypt has not made it yet to a “safe list” of countries for resumption of non-essential travel to the European Union, which is reviewed every two weeks.
Tourism accounts for 5% of Egypt’s economic output, according to the government. Analysts put the figure as much as 15% if jobs indirectly related to the sector are included.
(Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and Hesham Abdul Khalek; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Leslie Adler)
