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Concerns over Possible Second Wave of Pandemic in Egypt

A man wearing a protective face mask, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reads Al Joumhouria Newspaper on a street in downtown Cairo. Reuters file photo
A man wearing a protective face mask, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reads Al Joumhouria Newspaper on a street in downtown Cairo. Reuters file photo
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Concerns over Possible Second Wave of Pandemic in Egypt

A man wearing a protective face mask, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reads Al Joumhouria Newspaper on a street in downtown Cairo. Reuters file photo
A man wearing a protective face mask, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reads Al Joumhouria Newspaper on a street in downtown Cairo. Reuters file photo

Egypt’s coronavirus cases have dropped slightly despite concerns over a second wave of infections.

Officials have stressed that fighting the pandemic remains a top priority but that the people should respect social distancing measures.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population announced Tuesday that 1,109 people recovered from the coronavirus and were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 54,888.

It stated that 24 patients died and 168 new people tested positive for the COVID-19 disease, increasing the tally of registered cases in Egypt to 95,834 with 5,059 deaths.

The authorities have been demanding the people to wear masks in public and respect health ministers. In a related measure, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior has taken legal action against 1,198 public transport drivers for not wearing masks.

In another context, the Supreme Council of University Hospitals held a meeting to discuss efforts exerted by university hospitals to receive and treat COVID-19 patients.

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar called for honoring hospital staff who have lost their lives from complications caused by COVID-19.

He also urged earmarking university hospitals with funds to treat coronavirus patients.

Abdel Ghaffar underscored the importance of conducting an assessment two weeks from now and taking necessary precautions for any possible wave of infections in the winter.

The ministry was ordered to prepare a plan to deal with the possible second wave by benefiting from the expertise of medical staff in various university hospitals in terms of dealing with patients and using treatment protocols.

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Cash Crunch Leaves Syrians Queueing for Hours to Collect Salaries

Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
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Cash Crunch Leaves Syrians Queueing for Hours to Collect Salaries

Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

Seated on the pavement outside a bank in central Damascus, Abu Fares's face is worn with exhaustion as he waits to collect a small portion of his pension.
"I've been here for four hours and I haven't so much as touched my pension," said the 77-year-old, who did not wish to give his full name.

"The cash dispensers are under-stocked and the queues are long," he continued.

Since the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad last December, Syria has been struggling to emerge from the wake of nearly 14 years of civil war, and its banking sector is no exception.

Decades of punishing sanctions imposed on the Assad dynasty -- which the new authorities are seeking to have lifted -- have left about 90 percent of Syrians under the poverty line, according to the United Nations.

The liquidity crisis has forced authorities to drastically limit cash withdrawals, leaving much of the population struggling to make ends meet.

Prior to his ousting, Assad's key ally Russia held a monopoly on printing banknotes. The new authorities have only announced once that they have received a shipment of banknotes from Moscow since Assad's overthrow.
In a country with about 1.25 million public sector employees, civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs to make withdrawals, capped at about 200,000 Syrian pounds, the equivalent on the black market of $20 per day.

In some cases, they have to take a day off just to wait for the cash.

"There are sick people, elderly... we can't continue like this," said Abu Fares.

'Meagre sums'
"There is a clear lack of cash, and for that reason we deactivate the ATMs at the end of the workday," an employee at a private bank told AFP, preferring not to give her name.

A haphazard queue of about 300 people stretches outside the Commercial Bank of Syria. Some are sitting on the ground.

Afraa Jumaa, a civil servant, said she spends most of the money she withdraws on the travel fare to get to and from the bank.

"The conditions are difficult and we need to withdraw our salaries as quickly as possible," said the 43-year-old.
"It's not acceptable that we have to spend days to withdraw meagre sums."

The local currency has plunged in value since the civil war erupted in 2011, prior to which the dollar was valued at 50 pounds.

Economist Georges Khouzam explained that foreign exchange vendors -- whose work was outlawed under Assad -- "deliberately reduced cash flows in Syrian pounds to provoke rapid fluctuations in the market and turn a profit".

Muntaha Abbas, a 37-year-old civil servant, had to return three times to withdraw her entire salary of 500,000 pounds.

"There are a lot of ATMs in Damascus, but very few of them work," she said.

After a five-hour wait, she was finally able to withdraw 200,000 pounds.

"Queues and more queues... our lives have become a series of queues," she lamented.