Egypt has approved reopening 505 nurseries in 21 governorates, including Cairo and Alexandria, under strict preventive measures, Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj announced Sunday. In press statements, El-Qabbaj said the approval came following requests made by the nurseries to the ministry, where they also sign a declaration committing to implement the needed measures to address the coronavirus pandemic. Mahmoud Shaaban, director general of the Family and Childhood Administration Department at the social solidarity ministry, said the ministry shut down two nurseries in the Red Sea and Beni Suef governorates after they reopened without the needed licenses from authorities. Earlier this month, Egypt said it will reopen nurseries under strict preventive measures, including reduced capacity by 50 percent, after three months of closure to stem the spread of the virus in the country. The health protocols required for reopening include daily temperature checks for children and workers at the nursery, a ban on visitors inside nurseries, mask-wearing by workers inside nurseries, and limiting activities which see large participation of children. They also include providing a room for isolation in case of infections inside nurseries until necessary measures are undertaken, with nurseries evacuated and closed for at least a week. Egypt has been seeing a significant drop in detected coronavirus cases, registering daily cases lower than 1,000 in the past few days. As of Saturday, Egypt recorded 698 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections nationwide to 87,172 cases with a death toll of 4,251 since the detection of the first case 14 February. This is the tenth consecutive day for the health ministry to register new coronavirus infections at less than the 1,000 cases. Despite the reopening of the country late last month, the daily figure has stabilised for more than a week with the country's record of daily coronavirus cases — 1,774 infections recorded 19 June — kept unbroken to date.
