Egypt sets new times to regulate opening and closing for shops, restaurants

CAIRO – 21 November 2020: Egypt has issued new rules to regulate opening and closing times for shops, and entertainment avenues in winter and summer amid protective measures taken by the government to curb the increasing number of coronavirus cases.

The Ministry of Local Development issued on Friday a decision that regulates workhours for shops, public restaurants, cafes, workshops, handicrafts and commercial malls. The decision will come into force from December 1, 2020.

As for the commercial malls, they are allowed to open from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm in Summer and to 10:00 pm in winter. the time was extended to one hour on the state’s official holidays.

Regarding the Cafes, public restaurants, and bazaars, the decision stated that they will open from 5:00 am to 1:00 am in Summer and to 12:00 midnight in winter. On the official holidays, the time extended to one hour in the winter.

The closure of workshops and handicraft shops will be at 7:00 pm in summer and 6:00 pm in winter after being opened from 8:00 am. Workshops along the highways and in the petrol stations are excluded from this decision.

Supermarkets, grocery stores, bakeries, pourtly shops and pharmacies are excluded from the decision.

Egypt's Health Ministry said Friday that 363 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases to 112,318.

In a statement, the Ministry said 13 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 6,521.

As many as 121 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 101,685 so far.