Armenian Churches Resume Prayer on January 20

Armenian Catholic Churches in Egypt will open their doors again for prayers on January 20, after an 18-day closure period due to the Coronavirus.

Earlier, the Armenian Catholic Bishop of Alexandria Krikor Augustine Kusa announced that the Armenian Catholic Church in Egypt "will close all its churches from January 2 to January 20, due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus."

Last December, the Ministry of Tourism asked all tourist and hotel establishments not to hold any (cultural – tourism) events or celebrations during the New Year period that would result in large gatherings of citizens.

Abdel Fattah Al-Assi, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Monitoring Tourism Facilities, said that this decision comes in implementation of the directives of Mustafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, basing on the instructions of the Medical Committee to confront the spread of the Coronavirus, which was held on December 8th.

In the letter that he sent to the tourist and hotel establishments, Al-Assi stressed the necessity of applying the precautionary and preventive measures that were taken during the last period. The letter stated that punitive measures will be taken against restaurants, cafes, and hotels that do not comply with these measures.

On his part, Hisham Wahba, a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Tourism Establishments said that the percentage of customers in restaurants during the New Year will be very weak.

Wahba pointed out that there are a number of reasons that will lead to the citizens ’reluctance to spend New Year’s Eve in hotels and tourist restaurants, the most important of which is the continued closure of various theaters.