Sisi: Egypt’s coronavirus crisis managed professionally

CAIRO – 21 May 2020: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday said the coronavirus crisis in Egypt is managed in a scientific and professional way, affirming that the current number of reported cases is still within the normal range.

This comes while Egypt has seen a striking surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, as it has recorded 745 cases on Wednesday — 219 cases more than Monday. This brought the total number of cases in the northeastern African country to 14,229. Also, 21 people died with the novel virus, bringing the death toll to 680.

Attending the inauguration ceremony of a housing project in northern Egypt’s Alexandria, Sisi urged naming the streets of Egypt's new cities and national projects after the police and army victims and doctors who died with the novel coronavirus.

Sisi watched a documentary about the “Bashayer Al-Khair 3” project, which backs the state’s efforts to establish housing units with full services and develop slums in the Mediterranean governorate of Alexandria.



The project had been established by the Armed Forces’ Engineering Authority in two and a half years on 105 feddans (109 acres) of land, with the participation of 75 companies.

The housing area contains 200 residential buildings or 10,624 housing units. These units can house around 53,120 people. These units are built to compensate people who have inhabited slums with other modern units.

Each of the units can be rent for LE 250 ($15.74) per month.

The project has a mosque, a church, sports playgrounds, schools and services. Also, the project houses a huge area of commercial buildings.

Sisi, during the inauguration ceremony, has urged the state institutions to decisively face illegal construction nationwide and called on the Ministry of Interior to hold those responsible accountable.

Since he took post in 2014, Sisi has been keen to implement the state’s plan to remove slums, especially unsafe ones, and build modern housing projects for the residents of these areas and others. Sisi has also instructed officials to continue work in the national projects amid the coronavirus crisis.

Earlier in May, Sisi directed the government to resume working on the construction projects and other projects in the New Administrative Capital with applying the utmost protective measures amid the outbreak of the new pandemic.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli and Housing Minister Assem El-Gazzar in February, Sisi ordered the government to scale up its slum improvement efforts nationwide to ensure a decent life for slum dwellers and provide them with better services.