Egypt’s hospitals on alert during 2nd phase of 2020 House Vote: Health Ministry

CAIRO - 7 November 2020: In light of adopting preventive and precautionary measures against the coronavirus pandemic during the 2nd phase of the House of Representatives election, the Egyptian Ministry of Health declared a state of emergency in the vicinity of polling stations.

 

The Ministry announced in a statement on Saturday that a total of 1413 ambulances were deployed outsides the polling stations in 13 governorates, where the voting is taking place.

 

Minister of Health Hala Zayed called upon the voters to adhere to the protective measures, keeping social distancing and having the PPE inside the polls, the statement added.

 

Thermal imaging cameras are being used at the entrances of the polls to measure the voter’s body temperature, the statement said, noting that in case that a voter, judge, or supervisor suffered from one symptom of coronavirus, he/she would be admitted to the nearest hospital for a medical check.

 

The governmental hospitals nationwide have been provided with sufficient medicine, PPE, donated blood bags, the statement said.

 

Egyptians have flocked to polls since 9:00 am (Cairo time) to vote in 13 governorates, namely Cairo, Qalyubia, Dakahlia, Menoufia, Gharbia, Kafr El Sheikh, Sharkia, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai, and South Sinai.

 

Voting in the second phase goes smoothly since the start of the election, announced head of the Egyptian national Election Authority Lashin Ibrahim in a statement, calling upon the voters to abide by the health protective measures.

 

According to the NEA, the eligible voters in the second phase would cast their ballots in 9,468 polling stations distributed among 72 electoral constituencies and supervised by 12,000 judges.

 

The run-off elections for the second phase will be conducted abroad from 5 to 7 December and locally on7 and 8 December. The final results of Egypt’s House elections to be formally announced by the National Elections Authority on December 14.

 

The results for the second phase will be announced and published in the official gazette on the15th of Nov.

 

The first phase of the election was held for Egyptian expats abroad from 21 to 23 October and locally from 24 to 25 October 1. The run-off election of the first phase will be held abroad from 21 to 23 November and locally on November 23 and 24.

 

According to the updated voters' database by the National Election Authority, a total of 63 million Egyptians are eligible to cast their votes in the two phases of the parliament election