Cairo: Egyptian authorities have ordered hotels not to hold New Year parties and avoid big gatherings as the populous country is experiencing an uptick in coronavirus infections.
The Tourism Ministry has ordered all hotels and tourist facilities not to organise any indoor cultural or entertainment celebration marking the New Year, a tourism official said.
“This decision comes in implementing assignments set by the prime minister based on instructions from the national medical committee to confront the new coronavirus,” Assistant Tourism Minister for Hotel Affairs Abdul Fattah Al Asi said in media remarks.
The official warned hotels, restaurants and cafeterias against non-compliance with the precautions against COVID-19.
100 million people
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country of over 100 million people, has seen a steady increase in daily infection rates in recent weeks.
Egyptian Health authorities Friday night reported 579 new infections and 26 related deaths, raising the total cases to 124,280 and fatality tally to 7,041.
The government has recently warned against an anticipated spike in virus infections and said it is considering imposing an on-the-spot fine on violators of precautions aimed to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Last week, the government adopted several anti-virus measures including scaled-down attendance of civil servants at workplaces and a ban on holding mourning ceremonies and wedding parties in indoor halls.
