Why did the government's assurances fail to contain the Egyptians' panic?

Mohamed Abdullah - Cairo

Despite the Egyptian government's assurances of providing all food commodities, taking many precautions to enhance public health, and the Central Bank issuing exceptional decisions, it was unable to contain the fear of the Egyptians, and prevented them from incurring the storage of food and medical supplies.

The shops and shopping centers witness unprecedented demand, and crowded to buy and store in anticipation of a shortage of necessary goods and materials and high prices, with the spread of the Corona virus.

The Egyptian Ministry of Health announced the registration of 44 new infections in the past two days, which proved positive for their analysis of the new corona virus (Covid-19), bringing the number of infected to 210 cases, in addition to recording two new deaths.

Today, Thursday, the Egyptian government issued a decision to close "all restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, cafes, casinos, cabarets, nightclubs, bars and commercial centers (commercial malls), and similar shops and establishments that aim to sell commercial goods or provide food or services, entertainment or entertainment, and mobile food units, And that is from seven in the evening until six in the morning, and until the end of March.

The decision does not apply to home delivery services, and all places that sell food commodities, such as bakeries and grocery stores, as well as pharmacies, whether in or outside the commercial centers.

Citizens circulated dozens of video clips of a stampede of shoppers in large shopping centers in the capital, Cairo, which contributed to fueling the fear of others that some commodities are running out because of the high demand for them, which the media and many officials warned of.

Panicking in stores

Al-Jazeera Net correspondent in Cairo monitored the disappearance of antiseptic alcohol bottles and cologne that contain varying proportions of alcohol, in addition to the high prices of a box of medical gloves from 65 pounds (about 4 dollars) to 120 pounds (7.5 dollars).

And some shelves in the supermarkets were devoid of several foodstuffs, such as oil, vinegar and flour, and the overcrowding of citizens became the most prominent, despite the Ministry of Health's demand that citizens stay away from crowded places to avoid the spread of the virus.

The crisis of alcohol shortages and muzzles continues, despite the Ministry of Trade and Industry issuing two decisions to stop the export of alcohol of all kinds and its derivatives and surgical masks for a period of three months, with the aim of providing the needs of the local market.

A member of the Pharmacists Syndicate Ahmed Mohamed revealed that the government is helping to make the crisis and not resolve it, adding that "during the past two days, it confiscated large quantities of alcohol from many medical warehouses, without clarifying the reason, and the price of a ton increased from 178 dollars to 540 dollars, as well as Medical respirators increased twenty times. "

Mohamed said in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that there is no role for the Ministry of Health in controlling medical supplies and their prices, as it says, with evidence that their prices have increased doubling, indicating that the quantities present in the regular pharmacies of disinfectants have run out for two reasons: the first is the high demand for them, and the second is the monopoly of some companies or Medical supplies warehouses have to raise their prices, according to his description.

Precaution and motivation

Remarkably, the government's appeals to citizens to abide by their homes have in most cases gone unheeded, as the Egyptian Prime Minister appealed to everyone to stay in the houses and take the matter seriously, in conjunction with the suspension of air traffic from 19 March to 31 of the same month.

The government has been issuing dozens of data with the aim of reassuring the Egyptian street, as it has confirmed dealing with an "iron fist" with commodity merchants, who deliberately hide them or raise prices without justification, and that the stock of strategic goods is sufficient for domestic consumption, and some goods have a balance of enough for 29 months.

But regarding strategic commodities, the stock is less than that number, where the Ministry of Supply says that the stock of the country's basic commodities stocks, such as wheat and sugar, is sufficient for about four months.

The government also decided to reduce the number of employees in government departments and agencies, close 2,600 private lessons centers in a number of governorates, follow-up to closing kindergartens, and take all precautionary measures in the railways, subways, and seaports, by increasing sterilization and disinfection work.

Negative experiences

The demands on storing commodities highlighted the Egyptians' neglect of all government appeals and reassurances, which some attributed to citizens ’past experiences and negative experiences towards government promises, while others demanded that the government be given the opportunity to deal with the crisis and come together with it, and away from settling political accounts.

Former Egyptian politician and parliamentarian Mohy Issa confirmed that there is a state of panic and hysteria in the whole world, even in major countries such as America, where all household goods disappeared in one day in some regions, which has not happened in Egypt until now.

However, Issa urged the Egyptian government to take strict measures, focus on the issue of releasing the detainees, and demanded in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that solidarity and public awareness of the commitment to government decisions, stressing that the problem now is not the people's lack of confidence in the government, but in the case of recklessness and indifference.

In turn, the media advisor for the Building and Development Party, Khaled al-Sharif, attributed the citizens' disregard for government assurances that "citizens do not trust the government's words and statements, as they do not deal with transparency and honesty in many incidents and crises, but rather deal with the logic of deception and misinformation", as he put it.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Sharif added that "the most dangerous of these is that the government is not faithful to the souls of the people, and deals with recklessness and disdain for disasters," and linked the restoration of people's confidence in respecting the government of their human beings, their will and their minds, "and this will not be until the return of the democratic path, respect for human rights and immediate release For the oppressed detainees, "according to his description.