Cairo Governor Orders Officials to Prevent Monopoly, Black Market

Maj. Gen. Khalid Abdel Ghaffar, Cairo Governor, instructed the Director of Supply and Internal Trade to urge his officers to launch campaigns on the markets, stores, malls, and departments to regulate prices of goods, prevent merchants from monopoly or hiding merchandise to increase prices without and justification.

He directed to coordinate with heads of districts and the local concerned bodies.

Executive departments at Cairo governorate and Directorate of Syeda Zeinab, south to Cairo, Supply Department and police of Supply Ministry and Internal Trade, seized huge quantities of face masks stored to be sold later in the black market.

Police personnel confiscated 10 thousand face masks, 500 containers of disinfectants and 50 thousand of anonymous origin.

Police officers took legal measurements against the owner of that store.

They also found 150 bottles of hand jell of anonymous origin and 200 bottles of 50 mm size.

The governor tasked officials of the executive departments to continue launching campaigns to prevent fraud and fight the black markets, reaffirming the quality of goods on show.

He stressed that all legal measurements must be taken to keep the safety and health of the citizens.

"On the other hand,  you want to protect your family from dirt and germs, but getting rid of every germ isn't possible -- or necessary. In most cases, clean is good enough," said Atlanta pediatrician Jennifer Shu, MD.

Cleaning involves getting rid of dirt and gunk where germs can grow. The friction of cleaning -- often with soap and water -- removes most surface germs, which is adequate for most household surfaces. In other cases, however, it's a good idea to disinfect, which destroys or inactivates most of the germs.

Here's a quick guide on when to do which and how to go about it.

"Regularly disinfect surfaces that are touched by more than one person, particularly if someone in the family is sick," Shu said.

These include doorknobs, refrigerator door handles, microwaves, faucets, and toilet flushers. Clean them and then disinfect with a commercial disinfectant or make your own by adding no more than a cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water. Or combine steps by using a single product designed to clean and disinfect. Look for products that say they are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency on the label.

"For electronic devices such as phones, remote controls, game controls, and computer keyboards, wipe with sanitizer cloths or use a product designed for electronics. Computer keyboards can also be covered with a plastic or silicone cover to make cleaning and disinfecting easier," Shu added.