Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

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Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by DJKeefy »

All restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, shopping centers (malls), and other local shops will shut down from 7:00 pm (Cairo time) to 6:00 am across the nation, as a preventive measure by the government to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), announced the Egyptian cabinet in a statement on Thursday.

The decision will come into force on Thursday, March 19, 2020, until March 31, 2020, announced Prime Minister Moutafa Madbouly in the statement.

However, the decision excludes pharmacies, bakeries, grocery stores, supermarkets, and the delivery service, he added.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday evening that 14 new coronavirus cases were detected, including two foreigners and 12 Egyptians, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 210. However, it added that 40 patients were recovered from the disease and two cases of Egyptian nationals were discharged from the isolation hospital.

Meanwhile, Egypt will be suspending the aviation movement in all airports starting Thursday noon until March 31.

John Jabbour, the WHO representative in Egypt, said refugees and foreigners are treated like Egyptians, in terms of receiving medical care for Coronavirus (Covid-19), according to the international health regulations.

Amgad el-Khouly, a counselor at the World Health Organization in Cairo, said that the virus has not yet mutated and that Coronavirus belongs to slow-mutating viruses.

Earlier, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi directed to suspend study at schools and universities across the country for two weeks as of Sunday, March 15, as part of the country's comprehensive strategy to combat Coronavirus.

Coronavirus has forced many countries to suspend their flights around the globe after the infected cases reached 221,926 people and 8,999 deaths were reported to date. On March 10, 2020, the virus was announced a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.

Source: https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/82 ... ypt-due-to


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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by FABlux »

I hope somebody has told the viruses that they are only allowed out in restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, shopping centers (malls), and other local shops during the evening & night from now on! :roll:
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by newcastle »

FABlux wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:43 pm I hope somebody has told the viruses that they are only allowed out in restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, shopping centers (malls), and other local shops during the evening & night from now on! :roll:
I take your point.....but it’s better than nothing.

And, as we know, large parts of the Egyptian population seem to hibernate ( self isolate) between 6.00 a.m. and 7.00 p.m :lol:
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by Dusak »

My friend that works for a German tour group here in Luxor is attempting to fly out 35,000 German tourists. A mammoth task. Just hope they're being fully tested before they leave, otherwise Egypt will be on the receiving end of another accusation of sending infected tourists back home. Not much of a loss here in Luxor concerning g the closures, that happened a few years back. I'm now on my day 3 of self isolation, having to have finally persuaded my friend to keep away from my home for at least 2 weeks. At least the shops here still have loads of loo rolls, but could never understand why you in the UK would want to hoard them because of this virus, unless your all constantly crapping yourselves with the thought that you may catch it lol
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by HEPZIBAH »

35,000 is in an incredible number of tourists to still be left in Egypt, nevermind from one nation! Let's hope they are repatriated soon.

Dusak, the loo roll hoarders in the UK, Australia, Japan, and the rest of the tissue paper using world, is a mystery to many. I have seen video clips of some of the violent acts being carried out to gain a loo roll and that is almost more scary than the virus.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by carrie »

I thought that you were supposed to self isolate if you had been in contact with anyone who became sick or if you were feeling poorly yourself.
Other wise minimize your contact with other people and keep away from large gatherings. Wash your hands frequently, no shaking hands, kissing and hugging.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by newcastle »

I’m getting the impression that Egypt is testing very few people....otherwise how could they claim, as they did recently, only 300 odd cases?

They certainly wouldn’t bother testing tourists who were about to leave. However, their home country might well test them when they arrive.

As far as the UK is concerned, I believe certain countries are already on an alert list so that people arriving from there are advised to self-isolate.

But Egypt is not on that list.
Last edited by newcastle on Fri Mar 20, 2020 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by Who2 »

Went down to Smithfield Market at the 'crack of sparrows this morning.
Busy as usual but! no corn feed chickens, 'la-whaala!
On the way back Waitrose's had just opened, it was heaving in there but,
I found my chicken, from Prince Charles' Duchy. £13.50 for 1.5kilo Charlies' doing alright then.... 8)

Ps: Quote: "However, their home country might well test them when they arrive.
'Not here in Blighty they won't!
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by newcastle »

Good article on likely situation of Corona virus in Egypt :


Egypt is likely grappling with a higher rate of coronavirus infections than official figures, according to research by Canadian disease specialists and increasing infection among tourists who departed in recent weeks.

At least 97 foreign nationals who visited Egypt since mid-February showed symptoms or tested positive for Covid-19 on return home, according to public health data and news reports. Most spent time on Nile cruises believed to be the source of the outbreak in the southern city of Luxor, a tourism hotspot.

Egyptian officials say that an additional 126 foreign nationals and Egyptians have tested positive for the coronavirus since mid-February. This includes a 60-year-old woman declared dead on Thursday in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, 465 miles from Luxor.

Her death, the first of an Egyptian citizen during the current epidemic, came a week after officials removed 45 passengers from the Asara cruise ship later quarantined in Luxor. Some 82 passengers left quarantine on board the ship and travelled home just days later, after officials from Egypt’s ministry of health flew to Luxor to screen 558 more people – all tested negative. A further 27 people initially diagnosed with the virus retested negative, they added.

Tourism is a cornerstone of Egypt’s economy, and officials insisted on business as usual, stressing that tourist sites in Luxor remain open even as the country banned large public gatherings and closed schools. The Egyptian military announced new measures, including using the chemical weapons department to help with testing. But observers fear Egypt’s emergency measures may have begun too late, following limited testing, a tight grip on infection statistics and outbreak locations and potential legal action against anyone seen to be “spreading false news or rumours”, about the disease.

“We announce everything with complete transparency,” said Egypt’s prime minister, Mostafa Madbouly. Yet Taiwan’s Centre for Disease Control disproved statements by Egypt’s ministry of health that a Taiwanese woman on board the Asara cruise was the source of the infection in Luxor in late February. Instead, they said, analyses proved that the strain of the virus she contracted meant she was infected in Egypt.

Infectious disease specialists from the University of Toronto who studied the disparity between official and likely infection rates in places like Iran provided a grim picture of the possible spread of the virus in Egypt.

“Under the conservative estimate of Covid-2019 burden, where linked and ambiguous cases are eliminated, we estimated an outbreak size of 19,310 cases in Egypt,” they said, using a mix of flight data, traveller data and infection rates. “Egypt likely has a large burden of Covid-2019 cases that are unreported and greater public health clinical capacity may help identify and manage cases.”

The scientists used data from early March when Egypt officially had three cases of the virus, meaning the numbers are now likely higher. Khaled Megahead, the spokesman for Egypt’s ministry of health, did not respond to requests for comment.

Egypt has an overwhelmingly young population, meaning that fewer people will display serious symptoms of Covid-19. Many say privately they would opt to self-isolate if they contracted the virus, reluctant to surrender to a government that has quarantined people in a remote area close to the Libyan border, and detained doctors in the past.

“So far the testing process is very central. It is based on the scenario of if someone suspects that he is sick, he goes to certain places,” said a doctor at one hospital in Matariya, who asked not to be named.

Two doctors in Luxor dismissed the idea they could have overlooked cases, despite tourists leaving the city and reporting symptoms on returning home.

“There is no country in the world that can test the entire population,” said one, who screened passengers on the Asara last Friday and gave his name only as Bakry. Yet examples worldwide show that widespread testing is essential to understanding and fighting the highly contagious virus.

“There are specific symptoms and guidelines about how many and whom we have to test,” he said, adding that nine further cruise ships were tested on 6 March alongside the Asara. A German tourist on board the Hapi 5 Nile cruiser who was transported from Luxor to Hurghada hospital that day died two days later. Other passengers quarantined on board tested negative, and the cruise continued.

“We didn’t see people coming to the hospitals with symptoms. It doesn’t look like China, where people are falling down in the street,” said Islam Asery, a surgeon at Luxor International hospital. He stressed that he found official figures credible, and viewed honesty as a patriotic act. Still, he said, “Sharing information is sometimes seen as political because it’s attached to income coming from tourism. Our government and all of us dealing with this are being careful.”

Sherbiny, a hotel worker in Luxor, said officials arrived at his place of work at 6am on 9 March for tests. “The medical team entered with full protective gear and masks and took blood samples,” he said. “But they were accompanied by plain-clothed policemen,” he added, meaning that security officials who often move about the city remained unprotected.

Egypt has a population of 100 million people, where 95% live on roughly 5% of the land, a challenge for practising social distancing. The government has taken steps to handle the problem, including shortening prayer times and announcing a £5.2bn fund to combat the “consequences of the virus”. But it has also sought to control the narrative, even as nearby countries banned entry from Egypt.

Doctors and pharmacists who spoke with the Guardian doubted that Egypt’s public healthcare system is prepared for the impact of Covid-19. Pharmacists, often many Egyptians’ first choice for medical advice, said many fear being diagnosed.

“I saw a couple of cases, where people come with cold symptoms, and they are afraid to say that they suspect it’s coronavirus,” said one operating in Cairo who declined to give his name. “Since there is no manual or information from the authorities on what to do if you are around someone with symptoms, lots of people just take doses of antibiotics, so they are stable for a couple of days. Then they get sick again.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... es-suggest
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by newcastle »

Who2 wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2020 8:38 am Went down to Smithfield Market at the 'crack of sparrows this morning.
Busy as usual but! no corn feed chickens, 'la-whaala!
On the way back Waitrose's had just opened, it was heaving in there but,
I found my chicken, from Prince Charles' Duchy. £13.50 for 1.5kilo Charlies' doing alright then.... 8)

Ps: Quote: "However, their home country might well test them when they arrive.
'Not here in Blighty they won't!
Apparently the Isle of Man has already made self-isolation obligatory for those arriving from abroad...on pain of arrest!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ntent=news


This comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock also declared new legislation in the UK which would give unprecedented powers to law enforcement agencies.

The new bill would allow law enforcement agencies on the mainland UK to detain people and put them in 'appropriate isolation facilities'.

The Health Secretary said the powers in the bill were 'proportionate to the threat we face' but stressed they would only be used 'when strictly necessary'.


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https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/soc ... 0319194656
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by Who2 »

5pm: Just read in the London Evening Standard that the pubs were about to close....
Donned the hazkem outfit and rushed to the pub. "be-jesus you're still here, thank god!
A couple of pints of Westons Old Rosie Scrumpy 7.3%, and I was the only man left standing
after 2 gays with their 4 miniature poodles left.

Told the 3 staff to stay strong and become the last pub to remain standing, front page news...
Hopefully not today or tomorrow, or the weekend but it's on the cards.... 8)
Ps: And I'm not a social drinker I don't need 'social distancing, just 'cough in their general direction.
Remember! " It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in".... 8)
Pss: Waitrose's Windsor has run out of truffle oil....
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by BBLUX »

We have been in lockdown for almost a week now. No bars, restaurants, cafes or any other places of entertainment or physical exercise. Last weekend we stocked up on the essentials, vodka, gin, wine and coffee. We have enough left in the freezers from last Summer to keep us fed. I'm on a diet anyway. Daily walks up to a maximum of max of 2km by law.
France is getting it together with the aid of the lawmen. break the rules and it's €130 fine!
I will go shopping for fresh produce next week on my own. Not allowed for more than one to do it from the household.
Every time one goes out you have to complete and take an official form so the Gendarmes don't nick you.
On the good side the weather has been cracking for the last 4 days so gardening and general jobs.
Stay safe folks!
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by newcastle »

At last Boris grasps the nettle and orders the closure of UK pubs, cafes, clubs, gyms etc.

Inevitable given the inability of the average pleb to recognise the seriousness of the situation and curb his/her behaviour.

Hopefully he hasn’t left it too late.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by hatusu »

Quote "All restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, shopping centers (malls), and other local shops will shut down from 7:00 pm (Cairo time) to 6:00 am across the nation, as a preventive measure by the government to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), announced the Egyptian cabinet in a statement on Thursday."

So its been decided its actually a Vampire Virus and we are perfectly safe between the hours of 6am -7pm?
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by carrie »

Because most Egyptians congregate in the evening I suppose it's a good idea.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by newcastle »

carrie wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 10:27 am Because most Egyptians congregate in the evening I suppose it's a good idea.
I think I’ve said before....put it in the “better than nothing” category.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by carrie »

Just heard from Yildez, over 65's are no longer allowed to leave their home in Turkey.
Since Egypt seem to be following Turkeys lead be prepared.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by HEPZIBAH »

I'm already under the UK isolation advice - and although at the moment it is not being enforced, I am going to be in isolation for 12 weeks.

Sadly, quite a number of my friends are in their 80's and 90's and I would normally be volunteering to help them. As it is I've only just managed to get a random selection of food which I hope will see me through the worst of it. Thank goodness I can be a creative cook. I'm also about to become a vegetarian one...until my few vegetables run out.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by Yildez »

As Carrie has posted, last night the Turkish government announced that over 65’s, and anyone with a chronic illness, were not allowed to leave their homes. Alongside they rescinded free elderly bus passes. High fines, and even prison will be given to those not conforming. I’m happy that the government is taking strong measures, and I think we’ll be on total lockdown very soon. However, it does make life difficult!

Within an hour of the announcement on TV, our local expats had the situation under control!! Two of the younger women have organised those under 65, to take on us oldies in geographical areas, for shopping etc - my friend Sinem will be looking after me, Trisha and John-Paul. People at their very best!!!!! I’m very fortunate to live in a small town where people, both Turks and expats are more than willing to help each other.

The dustbin collection wagon has just gone by - the guys are wearing masks.
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Re: Restaurants, cafes, shopping malls shut down in Egypt due to COVID-19

Post by DJKeefy »

Speaking on the phone to an Egyptian guy from a village in Luxor tonight he told me that the Egyptian government have cracked down strong on the Egyptians and anyone on the street from tonight 25/03/20 will be locked up and may have to pay a 4,000LE fine, when I asked him where he was, he was on the street, but by his door to the house :roll:


He said the supermarkets and pharmacies were still open and he said you can get a paper from the police that are patrolling around to allow you to go to these places. I asked him why was the curfew for the night only, he said "the virus likes the cold and can not live when its hot" :roll:


Later he told me to be very careful cause there is 2 new viruses in China which can kill you within 25 hours in a day, I did correct him to say there is 24 hours in a day and I've not heard of a new virus. Maybe the police/government are passing rumours of a new virus around to scare them more to stay in at home :tk
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