London, April 17, 2020 (AltAfrica)-In a rare and unprecedented move, Egypt on Thursday quarantined entire village with a strict order for every household to observe a 14-day lockdown without any interaction

Kafr El-Agmy village in the northern Kafr El-Sheikh governorate was put under “lock and key”after the detection of 10 coronavirus cases among the villagers, reported Ahram Arabic news website.

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The newly-detected cases — eight people from one family, a university student, and a physician — were transferred to an isolation hospital in Baltim city.

The governor ordered the village’s daily needs be provided to ensure no direct interaction between its residents

All roads major roads and other routes to the village have been cordoned to restrict movement for the duration of the lockdown/quarantine.

In late March, Egypt quarantined a number of families in 10 governorates in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to Khaled Megahed, spokesperson for the health ministry

Egypt reported its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases yet on Thursday with 168 new infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,673, according to the health ministry

The death toll now stands at 196, with 13 new fatalities on Thursday, the ministry added

Forty-three patients fully recovered and left isolation hospitals and quarantine facilities on Thursday, which brings the total number of recoveries from the virus thus far to 596.

The number of cases who have retested negative, including those who have fully recovered, has now reached 781, ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said.

All the new cases are Egyptians. They were detected through the ministry’s investigation and contact tracing protocols, Megahed added.

Hala Zayed, the minister of health, held a meeting on Thursday via video conference with the administrative and medical staff of six isolation hospitals to ensure that all their needs are being met and that treatment and infection control standards are followed.

The minister also thanked the Chinese government and people for sending to Egypt a shipment of medical supplies, which arrived on Thursday. She stressed the strength of relations between the two countries.

The shipment included four tonnes of medical protective supplies, including 20,000 N95 respirator masks, 10,000 protective gowns and 10,000 PCR testing kits, the ministry said.

The increase in cases has come despite unprecedented restrictions to stem the spread of the virus amid fears that the medical facilities in the country, with a population of 100 million, will be overwhelmed.