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Activists: Egypt putting medical staff at risk of coronavirus

February 6, 2020 at 1:31 pm

People are seen queuing for a shop to buy face masks, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, on 1 February 2020 [Stringer / Anadolu Agency]

The Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed faces a new wave of criticism over her handling of the coronavirus epidemic after it was announced that Al-Nujaila Central Hospital in Marsa Matruh Governorate would be receiving the Egyptian evacuees returning from China’s Wuhan.

Zayed announced that patients in Al-Nujaila would be evacuated to Marsa Matruh Hospital freeing it up to be used to quarantine evacuees.

Local residents of Al-Nujaila, a farming and fishing community around 400 kilometres north of Cairo, have expressed concern because the hospital is in the middle of a residential area and close to a market.

The health minister went ahead with the plans without consulting local citizens, representatives from the government or the health department, critics say.

Coronavirus: China requests 145m masks from Egypt

Doctors agreed to work at the hospital without being told the true nature of the work.

Earlier this month, Zayed announced a controversial plan to tackle coronavirus by checking Chinese restaurants and their workers for symptoms of the virus, despite the fact that they have been in the country since before the epidemic began.

Earlier this month Egyptians called on Zayed to be sacked after four female doctors died and 17 others were injured on the Minya-Cairo Road after they were pressured to attend a mandatory training session run by the health ministry.

Zayed was criticised for issuing a statement mourning the victims several hours after the accident occurred.

Last summer she also faced calls to resign after saying that most nurses in the country were obese and announcing they had three months to lost weight.

READ: Morocco arrests woman spreading rumours on coronavirus outbreak in Chinese restaurant 

As Egyptians become increasingly concerned about the spread of the virus and Egypt’s ability to confront it, Cairo has declined China’s request to send 145 million masks to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Head of the medicine division of Egypt’s Federation of Chambers of Commerce told the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper that Egypt itself did not have enough masks to meet its own needs.

“The order has been declined because the production capacity of the factory cannot meet such amount,” Ali Ouf said.

This figure is more than twice Egypt’s annual output of masks. Egyptian manufacturers usually import their masks from China.

Demand across the world for face masks has surged as panic surrounds the outbreak of coronavirus and as a result the price has skyrocketed.