Author: Amr Khalifa
Affiliation: Freelancer
Organization/Publisher: Middle East Eye
Date/Place: March 29, 2020/ U.K.
Type of Literature: Policy analysis
Word Count: 1705
Link:https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-covid-coronavirus-infection-coverup-military-sisi-herd-immunity
Keywords: Coronavirus, Egypt, Egyptian military.
Brief:
The author argues that multiple events that have occurred in Egypt this week, including the deaths of two senior military leaders, expose that the Coronavirus is more widespread than the Egyptian authority reveals. Amr Khalifa claims that the Egyptian government did not implement procedures such as lockdown to fight against the virus, due to the economic hardship in the country. The author contends that a high-ranking Egyptian military officer reached out to him, revealing that infection is doubling every two to three days in Egypt and that publicly reported rates have been intentionally low. Moreover, the rate was underestimated since those who died of the virus are being classified as dying from respiratory diseases. The author shares a one-page document marked top secret provided by his source, which lists quarantine procedures for soldiers particularly from Alexandria, Qena, Menya, Menufia, and Doomyat. This shows that these locations are hotspots in Egypt.
By: Fadi Zatari, CIGA Senior Research Associate
