By: Nabila Essam

Within the framework of the continuous coordination to implement all health controls over the World Handball Championship, which is being currently hosted by Egypt with the participation of 32 countries, Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports, agreed with Dr. Hala Zayed, Minister of Health, to start conducting PCR tests for COVID19 every 24 hours for all teams participating in the tournament, members of federations and organizing committees, hotel staff, medical crews, and all participants and all people who are involved in the “health bubble” system.  

This comes within the framework of the continuous coordination with Ministers of Youth and Sports and Health to follow up and to implement the medical preventive plan for the World Handball Championship, in order to ensure a safe environment for all to Egypt's guests from different countries, and to tighten preventive, precautionary and medical measures to coincide with the state's efforts to confront coronavirus.

It is decided to conduct PCR swabs every 24 hours for the participating teams instead of conducting them every 48 hours, as well as applying the tests for members of the federations and organizing committees and hotel staff once every 24 hours instead of every 72 hours in rooms dedicated for this purpose in the hotels. The swabs are applied to suspected cases, in addition to using thermal imaging technology periodically throughout the day.

In case of finding any infected cases, coordination has been made to transfer them to one of the hospitals detected by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to receive suspected cases of with Coronavirus evaluate the case, and to conduct medical examinations and diagnosis according to the testing protocols; simple cases are self-isolated in one of the hotels designated for that, and they are followed up from a medical team in the hotel, and they are subject to the treatment protocol for COVID19, as for moderate and severe cases, they are isolated in the hospitals of the Ministry of Health and Population designated for this purpose to receive the necessary medical care, and those in contact with the case are followed up and the place of residence of the infected case is sanitized once the case confirmed.  

It is worth noting that 7205 PCR tests of COVID19 have been conducted so far for members of the teams and delegations participating in the tournament, hotel staff, the medical crew, and members of the organizing committee, since the start of the reception preparations for delegations on January 1 till today.