Corona and covering up the reality of its spread .. Egypt fights on two fronts

A report published by the British Middle East Eye website indicates that the Egyptian authorities are covering up the facts related to the outbreak of the Corona virus (Covid-19), and says that the country faces a war on two fronts.

Amr Khalifa says in his report that a high-ranking Egyptian military officer told the site that the disease outbreak in the country is more widespread than what the government recognizes, and what it is prepared to deal with.

Middle East Eye adds that suspicions have increased over the past several weeks about the position of the Egyptian government, and many believed that they either covered up the extent of the Covid-19 epidemic in the country, or that they did not open the way to know the level of its spread in this context.

The report confirms that the multiple events that took place in Egypt last week - including the killing of two senior military leaders and then the leak of a military document indicating that the virus is more prevalent in the country than was previously disclosed - all cemented this view of covering up.

Sisi and transparency
And Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi finally appeared after a long absence to say that his government was dealing with the crisis with complete transparency, calling on the Egyptians to stay in their homes for two weeks.

However, the government did not implement the closure, and indicated the economic hardships that might arise from millions, even if that would make more sense in terms of public health, as social spacing cannot be employed for only 50% of the time.

While the pro-state media continued to expect success in controlling the epidemic, by the time Sisi and others finally broke their silence, the Egyptian government had already lost the battle against the disease and public confidence in its ability to confront the epidemic.

The report indicates that the British Guardian newspaper correspondent, Ruth Michaelson, was forced to leave Egypt a few days ago, after she wrote an article citing research at the University of Toronto, which in turn indicated that while the Egyptian government was officially reporting three cases of coronavirus, the true figure was higher. Much, as it was likely to reach between 19 thousand and 60 thousand injuries.

Leave Egypt
And the Middle East Eye website adds that forcing the correspondent to leave Egypt reflects the deep desire of the Egyptian leadership to dominate the information related to the Corona outbreak in the country.

But within hours of Sisi's re-emergence, the Covid-19 virus had dealt a complete blow to the strategy of the Egyptian authority, when the government was forced to admit the death of two senior Egyptian military leaders within 24 hours.

The report indicates the death of Major General Khaled Shaltout, then Major-General of the War of Shafi’a Abdel Halim Dawood, who were affected by the Corona virus, and that 15 other military officers were infected with this epidemic, indicating that the virus was more widespread than was officially recognized.

These official Egyptian confessions came a week after foreign media began questioning whether Egypt was covering up the extent of the virus, as American, French and Indian tourists who were spending their holidays in Egypt returned to their countries were infected with Corona virus, and that hundreds of others might have been infected.

The report indicates that infection with the Corona virus in Egypt may double every two to three days, while the deceased are classified as having died of respiratory disease and not with the epidemics of Corona Covid-19, according to relevant medical sources who did not reveal their identity.

The spread of infection
Although it was known inside the military circles that the infection was widespread, the army leadership was ignoring the matter and expressed negligence to each other, as the officers were receiving each other with hugs and kisses according to the known customs in the country, and they also failed to maintain a sufficient distance from Recruits.

The report indicates expectations of a greater spread of the Corona crisis, both within the army and at the level of Egypt, where an Egyptian officer says that the army has settled on the herd immunity policy, and that no tests are carried out even for members of the high military leadership unless they have fever, sore throat or difficulty in Breathing, injuring hundreds of thousands.

Meanwhile, Egyptians are deeply concerned and are wondering that the reported rates of infection and associated deaths in their countries remain very low compared to their rise in countries with much better health care.

The report concluded by warning that the Egyptian government would cover up the reality of the spread of corona, which would endanger the lives of millions of Egyptians, and thus millions around the world, stressing that now Sisi must stand before the Egyptians and be frank rather than slowly increasing the number of casualties and deaths per day With this epidemic.