A month after Egypt confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Feb. 14, the government announced that it would close its airports and restrict air travel starting March 19 until the end of March, as part of efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly told a news conference March 16 that “the number of infected cases of the coronavirus is increasing, so we started taking quick preventive measures, including suspension of classes. Our plan includes three phases to deal with the virus. The government had to move to the second phase.”

He announced other measures that include reducing the number of workers in the public sector, particularly those working in the government amounting to about 6 million public employees. He appealed to all Egyptians to take preventive measures and to not underestimate the virus.

On March 14, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the closure of schools and universities across the country, and allocated 100 billion Egyptian pounds (roughly $6.3 billion) to deal with any possible repercussions of the coronavirus. Stepping up the preventive measures came as the country faced its sixth fatality; the number of confirmed cases reached 196 on March 18.