Over 100,000 tourists have flown in to Egypt’s Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh since the resumption of international tourism to Egypt on 1 July. The tourists came from Central and Eastern Europe countries; Belarus, Ukraine, Switzerland, Hungary, and Serbia.

The South Sinai, Red Sea, and Matrouh governorates were reopened to international tourism in July in the first stage of resuming inbound tourism to Egypt, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities press statement.

The move comes as part of the country’s plan to co-exist with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), particularly as these three governorates have both low population densities, and reported the lowest virus infection rates in Egypt.

The ministry press statement said that tourists who have recently visited Egypt have not reported a single case of infection with the coronavirus following their return to their home countries. The statement added that tourists who are currently still visiting Egypt have also not reported any cases of the infection.

The ministry stressed that this reflects the success of the precautionary and preventive measures Egypt put in place to curb the virus’ spread.