{"id":572839,"date":"2020-07-12T03:55:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-12T03:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/07\/12\/what-were-tracking-on-12-july-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-07-12T03:55:51","modified_gmt":"2020-07-12T03:55:51","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-12-july-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/07\/12\/what-were-tracking-on-12-july-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 12 July 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends, and welcome to another workweek. <\/strong>Oddly enough, we love writing to you on Sundays, but that\u2019s not why we\u2019re so chipper this morning. So what gives?<\/p>\n

#1- We have two short weeks coming up. <\/strong>We\u2019re off a week from Thursday in observance of the anniversary of the 23 July Revolution. The month of July then ends with a long weekend marking Eid Al Adha. We expect to be off on Wednesday, 29 July for the waqfa, with the Eid running Thursday, 30 July through Monday, 3 August.<\/p>\n

#2- Gary Larson is cartooning again. <\/strong>The creator of the Far Side was gifted a tablet and has three new pieces of work on his website under the heading \u201cNew Stuff.\u201d Read his explanation<\/a> and then tap the green \u201cNew Stuff\u201d button for a smile this morning.<\/p>\n

\"enterprise\"<\/p>\n

^^ Not new work, but exactly why we\u2019re happy Larson is back.<\/p>\n

SIGN OF THE TIMES- Traders in the GCC <\/strong>aren\u2019t getting much of a summer vacation<\/a><\/strong> as locals stay home and expats put travel plans on ice thanks to covid-19, the gift that just keeps on giving.<\/p>\n

REMINDER- It\u2019s election season. <\/strong>Nominations for would-be senators opened yesterday as voters prepare to go to the polls on 11-12 August to elect the Senate, the nation\u2019s newly reconstituted upper house of parliament. Egyptians abroad will cast ballots 9-10 August. Voters will elect 200 senators (half from a \u201clist\u201d system and half standing as individuals), while President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will appoint the remaining 100.<\/p>\n

\n

COVID-19 IN EGYPT-<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Health Ministry <\/strong>confirmed<\/a><\/strong> 67 new deaths from covid-19 yesterday<\/strong>, bringing the country\u2019s total death toll to 3,769. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 81,158 confirmed cases of covid-19, after the ministry reported 923 new infections yesterday<\/strong>. We now have a total of 23,876 cases who have fully recovered.<\/p>\n

EU travel restrictions do not prevent European tourists from travelling to Egypt,<\/strong> EU officials in Egypt said<\/a> in a meeting with Tourism Minister Khaled El Anany last week. Egyptian nationals are still unable to travel to Europe after Egypt failed to make the EU\u2019s \u2018safe travel list\u2019<\/a> which last month eased travel restrictions on 15 countries.<\/p>\n

Sudan\u2019s Khartoum International Airport has partially opened to flights from Egypt<\/strong>, Turkey and UAE, state news agency SUNA<\/a> reported on Thursday.<\/p>\n

ON THE GLOBAL FRONT-<\/strong><\/p>\n

India\u2019s coronavirus epidemic continues to worsen, South Africa cases double in <\/strong>two weeks:<\/strong> The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Africa have doubled to more than 250k in the past two weeks, while India reported a record single-day increase of 27,114 cases yesterday, the Associated Press<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

US continues breaking records:<\/strong> US cases rose by a record 71,389<\/a> on Friday to take the country\u2019s total to more than 3.2 mn. As if to mark the occasion, King Cheeto appeared in public wearing a mask for the first time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 12.5 mn people around the world have now been infected by the virus, <\/strong>according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.<\/p>\n

Concerns are mounting over a \u201csilent pandemic\u201d brewing in Africa as the gap <\/strong>between official data and the reality on the ground continues to widen<\/strong> in several countries, Reuters<\/a> says. The issue is largely a result of inadequate testing, particularly as some countries do not have the resources to test widely enough or share their data. African governments will need to significantly ramp up testing and encourage mask-wearing to prevent local healthcare systems from being overwhelmed, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention John Nkengasong urged at a press conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Researchers are looking at different criteria in an attempt to more accurately gauge how <\/strong>far covid-19 has spread<\/strong>, such as death counts surpassing previous averages during this time of year, but information on these data points is also lacking. According to the UN, Egypt is among only eight countries in Africa that records more than 75% of its deaths<\/strong>. Nearly three quarters of the continent\u2019s confirmed cases are in Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Algeria, according to Nkengasong.<\/p>\n

\"enterprise\"<\/a>Enjoy a memorable summer with Somabay\u2019s exclusive dining experience built around family atmosphere and love to deliver exceptional service at every step of your journey.<\/p>\n

Middle East banks are consolidating to weather the fallout from covid-19 and low oil <\/strong>prices<\/strong> with some USD 440 bn-worth of mergers and acquisitions currently in negotiation phases, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. Saudi Arabia\u2019s National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group are among the biggest players eyeing consolidation and are discussing a potential USD 15.6 bn merger. Some, however, have lost their appetite for big spending, leading some banks to put acquisition plans on ice. Among them: First Abu Dhabi Bank, which has shelved plans to buy Bank Audi\u2019s Egypt unit.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile:<\/strong> Dubai announced another USD 408 mn in stimulus<\/a> to support the economy through the pandemic. United, the world\u2019s third-largest airline, is considering laying off almost half of its workforce<\/a> in what Axios is calling the opening salvo in the \u201csecond jobs apocalypse\u201d<\/a> across the pond.<\/p>\n

AND THE REST OF THE WORLD- <\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the international headlines worth knowing about this morning:<\/p>\n