Egypt's Journalists Syndicate is still studying whether to hold the midterm elections, initially scheduled for 5 March, or not following objections from the ministries of health and interior over coronavirus concerns, Khaled Miri, the Undersecretary of the Syndicate and the Head of the Elections Committee, said on Tuesday.

According to Miri, the syndicate held a meeting with the health and interior ministries of health about the midterm elections on Tuesday, where the officials of the health ministry objected to holding the elections over fears of the spread of the coronavirus during the general assembly.

He also revealed that the interior ministry rejected a proposal to hold the elections in tents outside the syndicate HQ in Downtown Cairo.

The Ministry of Interior stated that it was committed to securing the midterm elections process at the syndicate's HQ building only if there is an insistence to hold the elections.

He also added that the syndicate’s board is waiting for a legal opinion from the State Council before making a final decision on whether to hold the elections or not at the current time.

Earlier this week, the elections committee supervising the midterm elections announced that there were six journalists running for the head of the syndicate’s position and 55 others running for the syndicate’s board.

Egypt has registered 178,774 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak began in February including 10,404 fatalities and 138,183 recoveries