Mahalla workers given break until March 31 over coronavirus

CAIRO - 23 March 2020: The Ministry of Public Enterprise announced giving the workers of two companies in Mahalla a break until March 31 starting Monday, and urged them to self-isolate due to the presence of two suspected coronavirus cases in the governorate.

The workers of Misr Company for Spinning and Weaving and Nasr Company for Spinning and Weaving are among 209,000 working in public enterprise companies across the country.

Minister of Public Enterprise HishamTawfik stated that protective measures have been taken since last week upon the directives of the Cabinet. Mothers were given a break, and the number of employees in administrative departments has been reduced in the 119 companies run by the ministry.

As for the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the sector, the minister stated that hotels owned by the Holding Company for Tourism and Hotels are achieving less revenues by 40-50 percent compared to March 2019. He added that factories have a stock that can be distributed, and speculated that trade companies may be hit.

The Ministry of Health and Population declared on Sunday that coronavirus deaths rose by four, raising the total number of deaths to 14, and that infection cases hiked by 33 to be 327. The number of patients who recovered and left the quarantine hospital increased to become 56, while that of patients whose test results turned negative but still in quarantine are 74.