Chief of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate (EMS) Dr Hussein Khairy’s suggestion to impose a full lockdown in Egypt, which he presented to the government, to curb the spread of coronavirus “did not represent the EMS but in his own capacity,” Dr Ehab Al-Taher, Secretary-General of EMS, told Daily News Egypt on Sunday.
Al-Taher stressed that the EMS managing council had nothing to do with that suggestion.
A letter circulated on local media has showed a suggestion for the government to impose a two-week full curfew in Egypt to curb the outbreak of coronavirus.
The letter was jointly signed by Dr Khairy and the head of EMS in Cairo Dr Shereen Ghaleb.
Khairy suggested also applying the full curfew on weekends during Ramadan as the holy month is not normally the best time for irregular workers to do their jobs, besides it usually witnesses lower productivity, according to the letter.
Such a measure, despite being harsh, would hopefully lead to containing the virus spread in a short period, the letter read.
DNE attempted to contact Dr Khairy for clarification but he wasn’t available.
In March, Egypt imposed a night curfew from 19:00 to 6:00 as part of state efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic nationwide. The country’s total cases reached 8,964 on Saturday and deaths exceeded 500. Ahead of Ramadan, the government amended the curfew time to start from 21:00 to 6:00.
Health Minister Hala Zayed revealed earlier an upcoming governmental plan to coexist with the coronavirus until a vaccine is found, that ensures that all public and private sectors and all citizens would commit to the state’s preventive and precautionary measures.
