The Physicians Syndicate in Egypt called on the public prosecutor to release the detained doctors because of their opinions regarding the spread of Corona virus, noting that they numbered five doctors.
In a statement on its official page on Facebook, the union demanded the speedy release of them until the investigations are concluded, and the presence of a union representative during the investigations as an inherent right to them.
The union explained that it addressed the Attorney General Hamada Al-Sawy in this regard, and sent to him two days ago a detailed statement of the names of the arrested doctors, warning that these facts mentioned, spread a state of frustration and growing fear among the doctors, at a difficult time in the history of the country.
The arrested doctors are: Muhammad Hamid Mahmoud, orthopedist, Jamal Abdel Nasser Hospital, Alaa Shaaban Hamida, a gynecologist, Al Shatby Hospital, Ibrahim Abdel Hamid, pediatric surgeon, Al Matareya Teaching Hospital, and Hani Bakr, an ophthalmologist, as well as Ahmed Sabra Ahmed Ibrahim, a professor of gynecology at Banha University.
In the same context, Ibrahim Al-Zayat, a member of the Medical Syndicate, said that the number of infections among doctors with the Corona virus, which the syndicate was able to monitor, exceeded 430, while the number of martyrs of doctors reached 68 doctors.
In press statements, Al-Zayat indicated that the mortality rate among doctors ranges between 5 to 7%, stressing that the past two days have witnessed an increase in the number of deaths among doctors, where about 20 martyrs were recorded within 48 hours.
The Egyptian Ministry of Health announced yesterday, Monday, that 1,691 new cases of coronavirus were recorded, bringing the total number of people infected in Egypt to 46,289 cases, including 12,329 cases who were cured and discharged from isolation and quarantine hospitals, and 1672 deaths.
Egypt has witnessed protests from doctors and the call of some to strike, because of what they described as government neglect towards the spread of the Corona virus, and the lack of means to protect doctors during their work, calling for the allocation of a hospital to doctors infected with the virus.
The Physicians Syndicate also strongly objected to the Ministry of Health's procedures for examining the doctors, and said then, "The health system may completely collapse, and a health catastrophe may befall the whole country if the Ministry of Health continues to fail and neglect the medical staff."
The anger of the doctors was relatively calm after Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly received the head of the Doctors Syndicate Hussein Khairy, and he promised to respond to the doctors ’demands and provide them with protection.
In a related context, the Medical Syndicate published a fatwa from the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa about prohibiting attacks on medical personnel, noting the high rates of crime of assault on doctors and all members of the medical team in hospitals.
The Egyptian Dar al-Iftaa said that assaulting medical personnel is prohibited by Islamic law, and the patient’s family is not permitted to attack the doctor if they are notified of the death.
"Attacks on medical personnel are forbidden, and the perpetrator is legally guilty, and his aggression cannot be excused, because the doctor has no choice but to do the causes, but healing is only owned by God Almighty."
She stressed that "the patient's family must adhere to restraint when dealing with medical personnel, and the doctor must also reassure the patient's family and relieve them and take into account the exceptional circumstance that our beloved country is going through."