The Egyptian parliament Wednesday passed a draft bill amending the country’s state of emergency law to grant President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi broad powers to fight the spread of the coronavirus.
The amendments, which only need Sisi’s signature to become law, also expand military prosecutions to potentially include alleged crimes committed during the state of emergency.
Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017, and the government extended it earlier this month for another three months. The law was originally passed to give the president broader powers to fight terrorist threats and drug trafficking.
The new amendments enable Sisi to take a number of actions to curb the virus, such as suspending classes at schools and universities and quarantining returnees from abroad. But they also include expanded powers to ban public and private meetings, protests, celebrations and other forms of assembly.
Egypt has recorded nearly 3,500 cases of the virus, with 264 deaths.
Jordan eases restrictions
Jordan on Wednesday eased movement restrictions in three large and sparsely populated southern districts where no coronavirus cases have been reported.
Life began returning to normal in the districts of Karak, Maan and Tefileh. In the city of Karak, 120 kilometers south of the capital of Amman, heavy traffic clogged streets Wednesday.
Jordan has recorded 428 positive cases of the virus and seven deaths, according to a tally kept by John Hopkins University.
