Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has suspended schools and universities across the country for two weeks, starting Sunday, and announced EGP 100bn emergency package to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), according to presidency spokesperson. The Saturday's decree is a part of the state comprehensive plan as precautionary measures against the pandemic that affected more than 100 countries worldwide. Last week, the government decided to halt all events and large public gatherings as well as the movement of large groups of people between governorates as a preventative measure against the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, the Ministry of Interior decided to suspend visitation for prison inmates nationwide for 10 days due to the disease fears. The Ministry of Youth and Sports has also taken preventative measures by cancelling all sports events. It has also halted all events and sports gatherings of intensive density and has coordinated with the Ministry of Health to sterilise training areas. A hashtag calling for suspending the school and universities in Egypt has surfaced on Twitter, as nearly 61 countries around the world suspended schools whether nationwide or in limited areas. The latest official toll of COVID-19 cases in Egypt on Saturday has reached 93 cases, after the Ministry of Health reported 13 new cases on Friday, including 5 Egyptians and 8 foreigners, while 21 recovered. The two deaths due to the virus were of a German man and an Egyptian woman.
