Egypt Warns Against Serving Meals in Mosques

Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)
Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)
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Egypt Warns Against Serving Meals in Mosques

Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)
Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)

The Egyptian Ministry of Endowment has warned against serving meals in mosques during the holy month of Ramadan as part of measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ministry has stressed that any mosque employee who fails to guarantee the implementation of precautionary measures will be dismissed.

The Ministry had ordered certain regulations to be followed in mosques during Ramadan, including restricting Tarawih prayers to half an hour, abstaining from heaving meals there, bringing the prayer mat from home and respecting social distancing.

The Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church also said that it would ban any COVID-19 patient from entering its premises.

Pope Tawadros II urged any person who has coronavirus symptoms not to go to church.

The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population on Friday denied rumors that hospitals in Sohag province, south of Cairo, were unable to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases.

Health Ministry Spokesman Khalid Mujahid said that 17 hospitals are receiving COVID-19 patients in Sohag.

The total number of patients receiving treatment at hospitals there reached 414. There are 950 beds, 70 ICU beds, and 18 ventilators in the province, he reassured.

Egypt recorded Wednesday 872 new coronavirus cases, according to the Health Ministry. Another 48 patients died.

The total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases since the outbreak began in Egypt hit 219,774, according to the statement.

The number of recoveries reached 165,348.



EU's Kallas Says Happy to Read about Macron's Syria Sanctions Relief Proposal

 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
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EU's Kallas Says Happy to Read about Macron's Syria Sanctions Relief Proposal

 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday that she was happy to read that France's President Emmanuel Macron had proposed sanctions relief for Syria.

Macron said on Wednesday he would urge the EU to end sanctions on Syria when they come up for renewal in June.

"We have currently the ongoing discussions about the sanctions relief on Syria, and I was happy to read that actually President Macron is in favor of the relief of sanctions," Kallas told reporters in Warsaw.