The fear of the novel Coronavirus in Egypt, a country of about 100 million people, with 7,000 reported cases of COVID-19 and 452 deaths, seems not to have stopped some citizens from carrying out their Ramadan shopping especially in the capital, Cairo.
While the government is running campaigns in newspapers and on billboards to encourage social distancing, shutting down cafes and eat-in service at restaurants, imposing a night-time curfew, social customs and economic pressures are still drawing people onto the streets, even as newly reported cases of the coronavirus continue to rise.
The curfew prompted a shopping rush during the day when many stock up for fast-breaking, or iftar, at 6.30pm.
Store owners often struggle to persuade people to queue in an orderly way.
“Customers are not afraid of the coronavirus. It was very crowded (in the shop) at the start of Ramadan, so we were always asking people to stand further apart,” said Osama Ali Ahmed, 60, owner of a sweet shop near the historic al-Sayeda Zainab mosque in central Cairo.
Customers, some wearing masks, jostled for space, as they did at a nearby grocery store.
“People are careful, but this does not stop us from going out to buy the things that we get every year,” said Ashraf Ali, 52.
On Sunday Health Minister Hala Zayed Said urged Egyptians to take the lockdown measures more seriously.
“It is the citizen who will control the way we get through these dangerous times. The state has completed all procedures it is responsible for,” she said.
Egyptians flout social distancing rules during Ramadan shopping
