Panic is sweeping the country as fast as the virus is spreading. Throughout the past week, the coronavirus scare has been spreading rapidly in Egypt, especially after the death of six people from the COVID-19 was announced and the increase in the number of infected people to 196 by Tuesday.

The government has escalated its measures as Egypt enters phase two of the virus. Many governmental officials declared that Egypt was ready for all scenarios. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, meanwhile, decided to allocate LE100 billion to implement the country’s comprehensive plan to stop the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday more than 300 families were quarantined in their homes in Daqahliya governorate as several cases were discovered. Similar measures were implemented in Minya and Damietta. The Ministry of Health and Population announced on Tuesday more people had been infected, bringing the total number of infected people to 196 and that of fatalities to six. The four new deaths was a German, 72, in Luxor, and an Egyptian man, 50, from Daqahliya who was in contact with a woman who died from the virus last week. The two deaths reported on Tuesday were of a 78-year-old Italian woman and a 70-year-old Egyptian man, Ministry of Health Spokesman Khaled Megahed said. Both died at the designated isolation hospital where Egypt is quarantining coronavirus patients.

On Monday Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli decided to suspend international flights to and from Egypt starting 19 March until 31 March. According to Madbouli, although all government decisions taken to stop the virus will have a serious impact on the country’s economy, people’s health is more important. “The losses for Egyptian airlines are expected to pass LE2.5 billion, but people’s health is a priority,” Madbouli said at a press conference. 

He called on citizens not to panic, assuring them that there was no shortage of food supplies or goods. “Egypt’s reserves of wheat are enough for the coming three months, while rice and sugar are sufficient for at least four and seven months respectively,” Madbouli confirmed.

Madbouli also issued a 10-article decree to reduce the number of government employees going to work, with the exception of those working in health, electricity, sewage and drainage systems, transportation and water services.

According to the decree, all workshops and training sessions will be suspended. People with chronic diseases are to be granted an exceptional holiday throughout the validity of the decree. Infected employees or those who have come in contact with an infected patient, pregnant women or those who have children less than 12 years old are to stay at home until the decree ends. Any employee who was travelling abroad has to stay at home for 15 days before returning to work. According to the decree, all exceptional vacations will be paid and will not be deducted from the employees’ annual vacations. All government offices must be cleaned and sterilised.

The decree is to be implemented for two weeks until further notice.

As part of the country’s plan to reduce the outbreak of the coronavirus, schools and universities were temporarily suspended for two weeks, starting 15 March. “This suspension might be extended for a longer period. All depends on the development of the situation,” said Minister of Education and Technical Education Tarek Shawki in a TV interview.

Mahmoud Hassouna, spokesman for the minister of education, said the ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, closed down all of the country’s educational institutions and private tutoring centres. “Violators will be seriously penalised,” Hassouna said.

Hassouna said the ministry had already uploaded all curricula for students in grade one until grade 12 on the Internet. “Students can log on to these sites to study. In this regard, the ministry has agreed with the Telecommunication Ministry to provide students with extra gigabytes free of charge so that students can study without putting an extra financial burden on their parents,” Hassouna said.

A full explanation of the curriculum will also be available on Egypt’s educational channels on NileSat EDU1 (frequency of 11757 horizontal). Students can adjust the channel and find out the schedule of their curriculum, Hassouna said, adding that until now final year exams will take place as scheduled, and that if anything changes students and parents will be informed.

Meanwhile, cafés have been instructed not to serve hookah to customers or else would be shut down and forced to pay heavy fines. Sports tournaments have been suspended for at least two weeks. Gyms are closed. Judicial courts have also closed for two weeks. All of the country’s organisations, according to Megahed, must take all the necessary measures to avoid gatherings.

Besides implementing preventive measures the government has disbursed LE188 million to the Health Ministry as part of a larger package, LE100 billion, to meet the challenge of the coronavirus.

Megahed said Egypt is currently implementing phase two of its precautionary measures. In order to avoid moving to phase three, people must abide by the government’s hygiene instructions and follow them strictly. “Clean all surfaces with diluted chlorine 2:8, and wash hands with running water and soap. People can use alcohol with 70 per cent saturation, avoid crowded places, stay home, be safe, and don’t panic,” he added.

The ministry has also allocated two hotlines — 105 and 15335 — to report cases of infection and provide extensive information about the virus, Megahed said, adding that the country’s hospitals that specialise in fevers in addition to quarantine hospitals are ready and fully equipped to provide medical care for any infected patient.

*A version of this article appears in print in the  19 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly