Hand disinfectant- CC via pixabay/renatekoCAIRO- 17 April 2020: In light of Egypt’s efforts to overcome the crisis of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli issued on Thursday an antitrust decision on pricing the medical products of sanitizers, disinfectants, face masks and gloves.Pharmacies and retail outlets should abide by the rules of the new decision, the Cabinet said in a statement, adding that violation of the decision is punishable by one year in prison and a fine between LE100,000 and LE 2 million. In case this crime was repeated, the offender would be sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison, the statement said.The statement continued that pharmacies and retail outlets nationwide should label the prices of the products, affirming that the violator could face a fine between LE100,000 and LE 5 million.A face mask was priced at LE 2 instead of LE 5, while one box of 100 gloves will be sold for LE 80 rather than LE 150-250. As for one liter of alcohol 95 is sold for LE 35.The Ministry of Health announced, Thursday recording 168 new coronavirus cases, and 13 deathsAccording to Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed, the new cases raise Egypt’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 2,673 and deaths to 196.

Source: Egypt Today April 17, 2020 09:45 UTC