Egypt Ratchets Up Restrictions in Stations, Schools, Mosques

Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)
Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)
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Egypt Ratchets Up Restrictions in Stations, Schools, Mosques

Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)
Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)

Egypt has tightened anti-virus restrictions in stations, schools, and mosques and threatened to punish violators.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly affirmed the necessity of adhering to the precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus, warning that the second wave of the pandemic is harder than the previous one.

During a virtual cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Madbouly stressed that all concerned bodies should apply all these measures strictly at all work and production sites amid the rise in infection rates witnessed these days. He ordered tightening campaigns on places that violate the precautionary measures, and impose penalties stipulated in the law and in the cabinet’s decisions in this regard.

Moreover, the minister called for reducing crowding at public workplaces, giving governmental entities and ministries discretion and flexibility to determine, upon work conditions, the needed number of employees.

Egyptian National Railways emphasized that passengers can’t access stations without facemasks.

In an effort to prevent the spread of the virus among school students, Education Minister Tarek Shawki ordered teachers and students to follow strict precautionary measures, including the wearing of facemasks throughout the school day.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that 275 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases in Egypt since the beginning of the outbreak to 111,284.

The Ministry said 16 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 6,481. Meanwhile, the number of recovered cases reached 101,288 so far.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.