Egypt to resume car licence renewal services next week – ministry

Egypt will resume services of renewing car licences at all traffic departments nationwide next week, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

This came a few days after the government announced it was loosening some coronavirus curbs as it followed steps by other countries around the world to keep the economy going, Ahram Online reported.

Drivers can now renew licenses of all types of vehicles as of Sunday, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Last week, the government said that only licensing new vehicles and limited official registration services would be resumed as part of efforts to ease lockdown restrictions.

Most government offices and public services, except for health offices, have been closed to the public since late March when Egypt first announced its nightly curfew in an effort to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.

The interior ministry said the dates of the resumption of other services at traffic offices would be announced later.

It urged all citizens seeking traffic-related services to abide by precautionary measures, saying that wearing protective face masks is a “prerequisite” for those visiting traffic offices.

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said on Thursday the government would slowly take steps to help return life to normal after the Eid Al-Fitr religious holiday, which marks the end of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.

Earlier this week, the parliament initially approved a new law giving health authorities the power to make it obligatory for citizens to wear face masks and follow other preventive measures.

Egypt has shortened a nationwide curfew by one hour to begin at 9 pm each evening instead of the previous 8 pm during Ramadan which began on Friday.

The country reported its highest daily toll of coronavirus cases on Monday, with 248 new infections and 20 deaths, bringing the total to 4,782 including 337 fatalities.