Daily COVID-19 roundup: July 13

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Here are the latest figures on COVID-19 as of Sunday, July 12:

Working moms on balancing professional and parental duties as daycares reopen

As nurseries began to open up again on July 1, a new dimension has been added to the balancing act that many working moms have been undertaking since the pandemic began.

A long-form feature by the independent Al-Manassa website cites the stories of several professional women, exploring how they’ve handled the competing demands of protecting their families from infection and working as a family breadwinner.

For some, the decision to reopen has come too early, as they still fear the risk of contagion that comes with their children attending the four-day nursery week that the Social Solidarity Ministry decided to implement at the end of June. 

Yet they’ve been put in a tight spot, since many employers have chosen to curtail work-from-home arrangements that parents were able to benefit from earlier in the course of the pandemic. For other working moms, work from home has never been an option.  

For Amira, who works at a marketing firm, working from home isn’t easy as she has to juggle parenting and professional responsibilities simultaneously. Nevertheless she prefers to protect her children from risk of contagion at nursery, and has hired someone to help her at home instead, which costs more than the nursery fees. 

Riham works at a journalism institute, though she is not formally appointed, so there is no contractual obligation for her employer to give her paid leave. Yet, Riham is also anxious about exposing her children to infection, so she is currently working on negotiating a leave of absence from work. 

Dina, who is a banker and was required to work full time during the economic crisis precipitated by the pandemic, has been leaving her children, who are aged six and nine years old, alone at home, rather than sending them to nursery.  

Zizi has left her children with her parents during the week. The accountant could not afford to quit her job. Her company laid off several staff members at the beginning of the crisis, and hasn’t allowed any of them to work from home. 

As for Manal, a nursery owner, she has said that she is following the Social Solidarity Ministry’s requirements, which cap nursery attendance at 50 percent, and require symptom-checking on the door and lots of hygiene precautions. Manal said she is prioritizing accepting the children of working moms. 

State statistics agency CAPMAS released on International Women’s Day data showing that unemployment for women aged 15 years and over stands at around 21.7 percent, compared to 4.8 percent for men.

What were officials saying about COVID-19 on Tuesday?

“We call on the security forces to stop targeting doctors” — Doctors’ petition for the release of colleagues detained during the COVID-19 pandemic

 A number of doctors are collecting signatures on a petition to demand the release of seven medical workers detained during Egypt’s COVID-19 pandemic after they commented publicly on the government’s response. The names in the campaign are those of Dr. Alaa Abdelatif, Dr. Hani Kahil, Pharmacist Mohamed al-Sayes, Dr. Ibrahim Bedeiwy, Dr. Ahmed Safwat, Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim and Dr. Mohamed al-Fawal.

Prosecutors decided to renew the detention of Dr. Ahmed Safwat, a member of the Cairo division of the Doctors Syndicate, for 15 more days, Darb reported on Sunday. He was detained after publishing a post on Facebook in which he criticized the prime minister, who had suggested a link between “negligence” on the part of doctors and a high mortality rate among coronavirus patients in Egypt. The Doctors Syndicate has petitioned the public prosecutor for Safwat’s release.

According to a Doctors Syndicate representative who spoke to Darb on Sunday, 130 doctors have now died after infection with the coronavirus in Egypt.

The names of six doctors who have died of the coronavirus were released, including:

Hossam Helmy, a pediatrician from Alexandria 

Dr. Mustafa al-Feqqi, a consultant at the Mahmoudiya Hospital, Beheira

Dr. Ayman al-Desouky, professor of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mansoura University Hospital 

Dr. Salwa Farhat, a consultant  

Dr. Arafa Ragab Omar Nahleh, former head of a hospital in Shona, Gharbiya

“Cairo University’s research team unlocked the genetic code of one of the strains of COVID-19 present in Egypt” — Dr. Mohamed Al-Khesht, President of Cairo University  

President of Cairo University Dr. Mohamed Al-Khesht announced that a team of researchers at Cairo University have unlocked the genome of a strain of COVID-19 prevalent in Egypt. According to Al-Khesht, there are three different strains of the virus in Egypt. Al-Khest added that this discovery will aid in finding an effective treatment for COVID-19. 

Clinical trials to test a possible treatment for COVID-19 will also proceed at Helwan University, according to comments from Dr. Mohamed al-Qassas, head of the university’s infectious diseases department.

Coexistence with COVID-19

“Tourism was the sector most harmed by COVID-19” — Prime Minister Mostafa Madbuly, at opening of Asmarat social housing

Global lockdown cut off a supply of foreign tourists, whom Egypt has depended on for foreign currency and as much of 12 percent of Egypt’s GDP and 10 percent of employment. Madbuly reviewed on Sunday the relief measures that have been offered to the tourism sector, including a six-month reprieve on debt repayments for hotels and tourist establishments that will end in October, and a soft loan program worth LE50 billion backed by the central bank.

Elsewhere on Sunday, the sector continued to inch toward fully reopening, with the Tourism Ministry handing safety certificates to eight water sports facilities, eight dive centers and 11 dive safari boats to reopen in South Sinai and the Red Sea.

Healthcare workers will get a 20 percent discount on tickets to thank them for their efforts during the pandemic, flagship state airliner EgyptAir said on Sunday.

And from July 12, passengers flying EgyptAir to Dubai will have to provide a PCR test result before boarding their flight.

EgyptAir has lost as much as LE1 billion per month due to the lockdown.

High school students took chemistry exams on Sunday. With testing systems in place at exam centers and ambulances on the ready for anyone showing COVID-19 symptoms, 31 students in Qena were taken to the hospital for complaints ranging from fainting and shortness of breath to digestive issues. A student with possible COVID-19 symptoms was reportedly taken to a hospital in Kafr al-Sheikh, while two students in the governorate fainted and another two had seizures. In Sharqiyah, 12 students and a proctor were taken to hospital after some displayed possible COVID-19 symptoms, while others fainted or felt ill. 

To try to reduce the risk of infection on public transport, particularly at metro and train stations, the National Population Council has launched a three-week campaign to raise awareness on COVID-19 and protective measures people can take against it.