The National Endowment Investment Group — the investment body of the Ministry of Religious Endowments in Egypt — will manufacture disinfectant booths to be installed at the entrance of mosques to curb the spread of coronavirus, Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said in a statement Saturday.
Gomaa stated that the ministry has started to equip mosques as part of a large scale plan for sanitising and continuously sterilising mosques.
Mosques in Egypt have been closed to customary daily prayers and Friday congregations since 21 March amid measures to combat the spread of coronavirus.
In earlier statements, Gomaa said that mosques will remain shut “until the cause of the closure” disappears.
The National Endowment Investment Group earlier announced it had set up a production line for protective full-face masks aimed at contributing to “boosting the protection of individuals and organisations against the coronavirus.”
The multiple-use polycarbonate masks are designed to avoid external hand-to-face contact. The ministry offers them for sale at EGP 50 ($3.2).
The government shortened last Thursday coronavirus curfew hours to start from 9pm instead of 8pm on Friday, the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.
Tarawih prayers, which are special evening prayers performed during Ramadan, are suspended this year.
The government said it will gradually ease restrictions after the Eid Al-Fitr religious holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Egypt has reached 4,319, with a death toll of 307.
