Egypt’s parliament to donate salaries to fight coronavirus

Egyptian parliament members have decided to contribute a three-month bonus to the state-run Tahya Masr fund to help the government in the fight against the novel coronavirus, the parliament’s Secretary General, Mahmoud Fawzi, announced on Monday.

Earlier, Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal sent a message to lawmakers calling on them to donate their salaries to support the government’s efforts to curb the virus, known as COVID-19.

“In light of current honest efforts exerted by the state and its different institutions in fighting the coronavirus which has infected all the world’s countries, I call upon you to realise the necessity of joining these efforts,” Abdel Aal said, addressing MPs.

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The bonus is said to amount to 5,000 Egyptian pounds ($316.72) and represents less than 20 per cent of the total allowances parliamentarians receive.

The Tahya Masr fund was founded by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi after he assumed office in 2014.

Egypt now has 1,322 official recorded cases of coronavirus, 85 deaths and 259 reported recoveries, though researchers estimate the figures of infected cases to be far higher.

So far, at least 1,414,736 people worldwide have contracted the virus, of whom more than 81,249 have died; 301,315 have recovered, according to the US’ Worldometers. The World Health Organisation has declared the crisis to be a pandemic.