{"id":569980,"date":"2020-03-15T04:21:18","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T04:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/03\/15\/what-were-tracking-on-15-march-2020-2\/"},"modified":"2020-03-15T04:21:18","modified_gmt":"2020-03-15T04:21:18","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-15-march-2020-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/03\/15\/what-were-tracking-on-15-march-2020-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 15 March 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

With more than 100 confirmed cases, Egypt got serious yesterday about its response to <\/strong>covid-19<\/strong> after cabinet last week banned large gatherings and urged citizens to practice social distancing. New measures include school closures and an EGP 100 bn response package ordered by Ittihadiya, details of which should be made clear in the days ahead. Regionally, central banks in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have announced stimulus packages.<\/p>\n

<\/a> All schools and universities in Egypt have been ordered closed for two weeks starting <\/strong>this morning<\/strong> after Ittihadiya yesterday announced<\/a> emergency measures designed to help prevent the spread of the virus. The measures were put in place after Education Minister Tarek Shawky said<\/a> seven schoolchildren were among the latest confirmed cases in Egypt. Shawky told his cabinet colleagues<\/a>that the individual student cases were spread across a wide geographic area.<\/p>\n

Independent schools and universities in Egypt had earlier decided to suspend in-person <\/strong>instruction.<\/strong> AUC brought its spring break forward<\/a> by four weeks to run this week and will then begin two weeks of online instruction after the break. Cairo American College and other independent schools are moving to remote learning this week.<\/p>\n

The current post-secondary term may be extended for 1-2 weeks <\/strong>to compensate for the closures, Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the EGX reopens today <\/strong>after sitting out Thursday following a last-minute holiday in the face of massive storm. What to watch for:<\/strong> The bourse missed Thursday\u2019s sell-off in global markets and the rebound on Friday \u2014 and will be digesting Egypt\u2019s response this weekend to covid-19.<\/p>\n

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What should businesses do right now? Social distancing is the order of the day if we want to <\/strong>flatten the curve<\/a><\/strong> and give healthcare professionals a chance to manage the caseload that epidemiologists say could be coming. If you have staff whose jobs can be done remotely, have them work from home now. For folks running retail outlets, malls and other businesses where face-to-face contact is a standard part of business: Give your staff a refresher on proper hygiene (soap kills the virus better than anything else), step up your cleaning efforts, and make certain anyone who shows any sign of illness knows to stay home from work. The CDC\u2019s resources for employers on how to stay safe during the pandemic are a must-read.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

*** JOIN US FOR A WEBINAR ON HOW TO WORK REMOTELY. Entreprise has been <\/strong>produced remotely for the past week<\/strong> and has always had half of its staff working from home at any given time. The staff at Inktank, our parent company, will follow suit tomorrow. This coming Thursday, 19 March at 2pm CLT, we\u2019ll be hosting a call for Enterprise readers to discuss the strategies and technologies you can use to go remote. <\/strong>We have lines for up to 100 readers to either dial in or log in from their computer (the latter will allow you to see our screen). Use this link to sign up.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pro tip from our staff virologist: <\/strong>Soap and hot water kill and wash away the virus better than alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Soap literally dissolves the virus\u2019 lipid membrane, making it unable to infect your cells \u2014 and the hot water washes it away.<\/p>\n

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The total number of confirmed cases in Egypt now stands at 110<\/strong>, according to a statement<\/a>last night from the Health Ministry<\/a>, up from 45 a week ago.<\/p>\n

Egypt reported its second death from covid-19 over the weekend. <\/strong>A 60-year-old woman from Daqahliyah died on Thursday, a day after being admitted to the hospital and testing positive for covid-19, raising Egypt\u2019s death toll from the virus to two. She suffered from acute pneumonia from the virus, according to a Cabinet statement<\/a>. The first death was that of a German national who passed away on 8 March.<\/p>\n

Just about every event you can think of has been cancelled<\/strong>, in Egypt and around the world. Here at home, AmCham postponed last week its monthly luncheon, conferences are being cancelled, and furniture expo Le March\u00e9 La Casa\u2019s summer round has been postponed<\/strong>, according to a statement<\/a>. New dates for the expo will be announced at a later time.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, football matches have been suspended for 15 days <\/strong>starting tomorrow, according to a statement<\/a> from the Egyptian Football Association, and most sporting clubs have suspended team activities <\/strong>for an indefinite period.<\/p>\n

All non-immigrant visa appointments at the US embassy <\/strong>scheduled for 15 March through 9 April have been postponed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tourism industry is bracing for the hit<\/strong>, the most recent sign of which is Ukraine saying it has suspended international flights<\/a> starting 17 March. The country is a major inbound market, particularly for Sinai and Red Sea destinations.<\/p>\n

Sign of the times: The cost of insuring Egyptian sovereign debt has almost doubled over <\/strong>the past month:<\/strong> The price of credit default swaps \u2014 financial instruments that provide cover against default \u2014 on Egyptian government bonds has increased by almost 95% over the past month and 64% in the past week alone, the local press reported<\/a> yesterday. CDS prices reflect market confidence in the bond issuer\u2019s ability to meet its repayments: lower prices indicate low-risk debt while higher prices imply an increased likelihood of default.<\/p>\n

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Globally, it\u2019s something of a [redacted] show this morning: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia has suspended all flights into and out of the kingdom <\/strong>for a two-week period starting this morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kuwait is effectively on lockdown<\/strong>, having shut down government offices, many bank branches and declared an official holiday until 26 March in a bid to limit the spread of the virus. The government has shuttered gyms and private health clubs and imposed a ban on gatherings in cafes and restaurants, while commercial flights have been suspended across the board with the exception of inbound flights for Kuwaiti citizens and their first-degree relatives, according to Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Europe, Spain and France have followed Italy into nationwide lockdown.<\/strong> Spain has<\/a>announced a 15-day nationwide lockdown<\/a> starting tomorrow after 1.5k new cases were reported<\/a>in just 24 hours<\/a> at the weekend. People will only be allowed outside to buy food, work or for emergencies, according to the decree being finalized by the government. In France, all non-essential stores are being forced to close<\/a>, leaving only food shops, pharmacies and petrol stations open to the public.<\/p>\n

Europe now the epicenter of the pandemic<\/strong>, the World Health Organization says. \u201cMore cases are now being reported [in Europe] every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic,\u201d said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, according to CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The US has officially declared a national emergency,<\/strong> releasing USD 50 bn in funds to support efforts to fight the outbreak, says the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s science czar has a novel approach: Sit back and let <\/strong>everyone get infected.<\/strong> The UK should let around 60% of its population catch the virus for society to develop \u201cherd immunity\u201d from future outbreaks, the government\u2019s top science advisor Sir Patrick Vallance told Sky News<\/a>. In response, more than 200 scientists warned (pdf)<\/a> that the government\u2019s strategy could lead to mns of people being affected in the coming weeks and urged it to take stronger action at containing the outbreak.<\/p>\n

Covid-19 is now in at least 19<\/strong> African countries:<\/strong> Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Guinea all confirmed their first cases of the virus on Friday, Reuters reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Work is grinding to a halt the world over: <\/strong>Apple is closing all of its retail stores<\/a> outside Greater China until 27 March and its employees have begun working remotely and Patagonia is shutting down all of its stores and its website<\/a>. Companies from Italy to Silicon Valley are moving to remote work.<\/p>\n

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Global travel is becoming increasingly difficult<\/strong>, with airlines suspending flights and several countries imposing new restrictions on travel and visa issuances:<\/p>\n