To the Government and Its Officials: Take Responsibility!

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

In a statement that can only be described as brazen, within the context of the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister of Information addressed the citizens yesterday, stating that “Egypt may implement a total lockdown,” and shamelessly blamed the citizens for any potential outbreak, concluding with “take responsibility.”
Observers may have noticed a change in the government’s tone in dealing with the pandemic this week. After boasting about the Ministry of Health’s and the government’s measures in the past weeks, voices here and there are now trying to prepare for an inevitable phase: the pandemic outbreak. The government and its spokesperson are attempting to blame the citizens while failing to provide them with the necessary means to practice social distancing effectively.
Since the beginning of the crisis, we have been demanding the necessary support for workers and citizens to enable them to practice social distancing effectively instead of the superficial measures taken by the government, such as a nighttime curfew. At the same time, all factories continue to operate at total capacity!
We repeat our #demands once again before an explosion that is closer than we all imagined:
• We demand the reduction of overcrowding in prisons and detention centers to allow for social distancing, cleanliness, and disinfection measures. This can only be achieved by expanding the release of pretrial detainees, those who do not pose a threat to society, and those whose presence in prison poses a risk to themselves, such as the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
• We demand preparations through the temporary nationalization of private healthcare facilities and intensive care units to combat the pandemic.
• We demand the use of hotels and tourist facilities to combat the pandemic and its potential spread.
• We demand a special tax of 1% on all individuals whose wealth exceeds 2 million EGP, to be collected once for the efforts to combat the pandemic.
• We demand the provision of protective, cleaning, disinfection, and personal hygiene supplies to low-income families through ration cards for free.
• We demand government support for virus detection tests to make them accessible.
• We demand paid leave for heads of families with children as long as school closures continue, including the private sector.
• We demand that the private sector be obligated to allow its workers to work from home temporarily, whenever possible, without reducing wages.
• We demand financial support of no less than 1500 EGP per month per individual for daily wage workers and the unemployed. This will temporarily suspend and disinfect the metro and public transportation.
• We demand the suspension of utility bill collections to ease the burden on families and reduce the chances of transmission to bill collectors and from them to others. We also demand the alleviation of housing rent burdens.
These demands are critical to ensure the safety and well-being of all citizens during this unprecedented crisis. The government must take the necessary actions to protect its people.