Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

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Thu, 19 Mar 2020 - 11:29 GMT

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Thu, 19 Mar 2020 - 11:29 GMT

FILE - A cafe in Old Cairo - Reuters

FILE - A cafe in Old Cairo - Reuters

CAIRO - 19 March 2020: All restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, shopping centers (malls), and other local shops will shut down from 7:00 pm (Cairo time) to 6:00 pm across the nation, as a preventive measure by the government to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), announced the Egyptian cabinet in a statement on Thursday.

The decision will come into force on Thursday, March 19, 2020, until March 31, 2020, announced Prime Minister Moutafa Madbouly in the statement.

However, the decision excludes pharmacies, bakeries, grocery stores, supermarkets, and the delivery service, he added.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday evening that 14 new coronavirus cases were detected, including two foreigners and 12 Egyptians, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 210. However, it added that 40 patients were recovered from the disease and two cases of Egyptian nationals were discharged from the isolation hospital.

Meanwhile, Egypt will be suspending the aviation movement in all airports starting Thursday noon until March 31.

John Jabbour, the WHO representative in Egypt, said refugees and foreigners are treated like Egyptians, in terms of receiving medical care for Coronavirus (Covid-19), according to the international health regulations.

Amgad el-Khouly, a counselor at the World Health Organization in Cairo, said that the virus has not yet mutated and that Coronavirus belongs to slow-mutating viruses.

Earlier, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi directed to suspend study at schools and universities across the country for two weeks as of Sunday, March 15, as part of the country's comprehensive strategy to combat Coronavirus.

Coronavirus has forced many countries to suspend their flights around the globe after the infected cases reached 221,926 people and 8,999 deaths were reported to date. On March 10, 2020, the virus was announced a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.

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