Egypt Stops Exporting Legumes to Confront Coronavirus

Nevine Gamea, the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, issued a decision to suspend the export of all types of legumes for three months. 

In a statement on Saturday, Gamea stated that the government implemented the comprehensive plan. Establishing foresight to provide citizens’ needs for goods. Especially essential commodities. These actions fall under the precautionary measures taken by the state against the Coronavirus outbreak.

 The decision will come into effect from the date of its publication in the Egyptian Gazette.

Common edible legumes include peas, lentils, beans, chickpeas, soybeans, and peanuts. The most famous Egyptian legumes are broad beans, lentils, and soy, mainly used for local consumption and exportation.

In the meantime, the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture announced the decision to validate the licenses of all agricultural activities until the end of the curfew.

For its part, the Minister of Trade and Industry stated that the Ministry had limited the factories that are operating shifting hours. As a result, most of them work in the field of food and pharmaceutical industries.

Mustafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister of Egypt, stressed the importance of factories’ commitment to implementing precautionary and preventive measures. It ensures the maintenance of the health and safety of workers in factories. Moreover, there’s a need to operate factories of food products and medicine at full capacity to meet the needs of citizens. Securing production requirements for factories will occur. 

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The government is concealing the real number of infected cases

For weeks, the Egyptian government hasn’t been open about the number of infected people by the Coronavirus outbreak. In the past week, multiple events suggested that the virus is more widespread than it was previously disclosed. Two senior military leaders died with the infection. 

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the President of Egypt, finally emerged from a lengthy public absence on Sunday. He emphasized that the government was dealing with the outbreak with full transparency. Thus, he encouraged Egyptians to stay at home for two weeks.

The government did not implement a lockdown. Even if the move would have made more sense from a public health standpoint, the government turned out to be savvy enough to recognize the economic hardship that would entail for millions. 

Several days ago, Ruth Michaelson, the correspondent of Guardian, wrote an article suggesting that while the Egyptian government was officially reporting three cases of the Coronavirus, but the real number was much higher. As many as 19,000. After this statement, she faced expulsion from Egypt.