Batel Campaign Addresses WHO on Concerns over Coronavirus Spread in Egypt

The Batel (Void) campaign said in a press release that it has sent a letter to the World Health Organization on its concerns over spread of the coronavirus in Egypt.

Batel, an Egyptian campaign against the authoritarian rule in Egypt, sent a letter to the World Health Organization after the rising rate of coronavirus infection in Egypt, in addition to a large number of infected cases coming from Egypt, including Egyptians and foreigners.

The campaign’s letter, of which a copy was sent to Michael Ryan, the executive director of WHO’s emergencies program, endorsed the statements of the international organization’s officials that imposing ban on flights to and from the affected countries is not an alternative solution to international cooperation and community solidarity, setting as an example the scene of the Egyptian crowds in front of the analysis labs to obtain a disease-free certificate that lack any scientific value.

With the Egyptian regime’s keenness on hiding the real numbers of infected cases amid lack of serious and professional measures to prevent and limit the spread of the virus, the campaign demanded the World Health Organization to send a specialized technical team to determine the true situation of the spread of the virus and the possibility of its spread to a degree that could make it difficult to control. The campaign also appealed to the World Health Organization not to submit to any political pressure by the Egyptian regime or its supporters from other countries as the matter has become extremely dangerous, where experts expect presence of thousands of infected cases in Egypt

The Batel campaign also called on WHO to issue a set of recommendations for the Egyptian regime, including closing schools , abolition of unnecessary gatherings, provision of proper places for quarantine in each Egyptian governorate, as well as providing health care to thousands of political prisoners and the release of remand prisoners to reduce the crowded gathering places that help spread the virus.

The campaign’s letter to WHO stressed that the most vulnerable categories who are likely to catch coronavirus are the poor and the elderly, taking into account that the health care for these two categories has been severely affected in recent years as a result of the continuous reduction of the health care budget in Egypt.

The campaign sent a report to the World Health Organization, prepared by experts in various medical areas, with detailed data about the numbers of infected cases and lack of capabilities in Egyptian hospitals, which makes them unable to deal with the coronavirus crisis that threatens the whole world.

The Batel campaign also called on all Egyptians to address this issue seriously and follow up the WHO statements and press releases, promised to provide a hotline for reporting infected cases within a few days, and advised people to directly contact the World Health Organization for reporting any data in this regard.