Egypt may enact total curfew if required: Presidential advisor

CAIRO – 11 May 2020: The state may have to take tougher measures to face the increase in coronavirus cases, including enacting a total curfew, Egyptian President’s Health Affairs Advisor Mohamed Tag El-Din said on Sunday evening.

The government is reviewing all relevant procedures in order to protect people and economy, he told Hadrat Al-Mowaten program on Al-Hadath Al-Youm channel.

Tag El-Din called on citizens to avoid large gatherings and follow the preventive procedures announced by the government. He warning people of the fact that coronavirus is very infectious, saying this is the reason behind the surge in number of cases during the last few days.

The number of cases will likely rise, Tag El-Din added.

He said earlier that around a million people who came in contact with coronavirus positive patients are being tested, noting that the capital Cairo and Alexandria have the largest number of cases in the country, due to large gatherings.

The Health Ministry on Sunday said 436 people in Egypt tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) recently and 11 people died with the novel virus.

This brings the total number of cases and deaths to 9,400 and 525 deaths respectively since the crisis started, according to the official figures.

The test results of 2,556 people of the reported cases turned from positive to negative, including 2,075 people who fully recovered.

Also, 73 cases left hospital after they recovered, according to the instructions of the World Health Organization (WHO).

As Egypt saw a surge in the number of the coronavirus cases, Health Minister Hala Zayed on Saturday said the state authorities have responded to the coronavirus crisis and made all efforts to curb its spread, blaming the surge on the behavior of many citizens.

كلمة الرئيس السيسي حول جهود الدولة ومؤسستها ودورالمواطنين فى مكافحة فيروس كورونا المستجد

كلمة الرئيس السيسي حول جهود الدولة ومؤسستها ودورالمواطنين فى مكافحة فيروس كورونا المستجد لمشاهدة المزيد: https://bit.ly/2x2Oej7 اشترك في قناة الرسمية: http:/...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi late in April urged the medical staff to commit more to the preventive measures and the sterilization process amid the crisis, and paid tribute to the efforts of the medical sector.

As the president attended the opening of a number of national projects east of the Suez Canal, he also urged Egyptians to stick to the preventive measures against coronavirus in order to avoid tougher scenarios.

“If we have achieved success during the past period, we don’t want to lose what we have done during the next few weeks,” Sisi said, referring to the efforts to limit the spread of novel virus.

He also urged the citizens to maintain social distancing and avoid large gatherings, warning that the state may have to take tougher measures in case the coronavirus crisis developed.

The world and Egypt are facing an "invisible enemy," Sisi said, adding that Egyptian people should be proud of those who are working to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country.