Egypt Announces New COVID-19 Measures to Tackle Rapid Spread

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon announcing new measures to prevent the rising number of COVID-19 infections to take effect starting Thursday, 6 May.

During the press conference, Madbouly stated that shops, malls, cinemas, theaters, cafes and restaurants will close at 9PM, though delivery services will be permitted to operate at any hours. Festivals, parties, and public functions will all be banned regardless of their venue, and public beaches and parks will be closed.

These measures will be in effect until 21 May, when it will be assessed whether extension is necessary. This period includes Eid Al-Fitr which falls between 12 and 16 May. Eid Payers will be allowed at mosques that have been open for Friday prayers, though children will not be permitted to attend.

According to Madbouly, Egypt will be manufacturing two vaccines that should provide 40 million doses. One million people have already received the vaccine so far, and the vaccine rollout should work at a faster pace going forward.

Over the past period Madbouly said that 1.7 million fines were paid for face mask violations, and hundreds of thousands of shishas were seized at cafes and restaurants flouting their ban.

Madbouly finally said there is a trend of entire families being infected together due to the negligence of a single family member, and he urged Egyptians to abide by safety precautions to avoid infections rising at this rate.

Egypt has been officially recording around 1000 cases a day for the past week. The total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic is currently at 231,803, and the total number of deaths has reached 13,591.