Egyptian parliament approves amendments to emergency laws to counter coronavirus outbreak

Egyptian parliament approved on Wednesday amendments to the country’s emergency laws that give more powers to the presidency and the military prosecution to support authorities in their battle against the new coronavirus outbreak.
The amendments will enable the state to take and enforce a series of measures, some of which have already been deployed to control the spread of the pandemic. These include halting schools, banning all forms of gatherings, quarantining returning travellers, banning the export of certain goods, and imposing restrictions on the trade or transfer of commodities, a parliamentary report on the amendments showed.
The state will also be enabled to direct private hospitals along with their staff to help with general healthcare for a specific period, and to turn schools, companies, and other publicly- owned sites into field hospitals.
Egypt has routinely extended three-month intervals a state of emergency imposed since 2017 after two church bombings, which killed several dozen people.
Since it detected its first clusters of coronavirus cases in early March, Egypt has closed schools, shut places of worship, and enforced a night curfew.