Published 11:51 IST, April 4th 2020
Coronavirus Outbreak: Egyptian Billionaire threatens to commit suicide if curfew extends
In an interview with a local news media outlet, Al-Hadath, the second-richest man in Egypt further called for a 'revolutionary decision' amid COVID-19 outbreak
In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak across the length and breadth of the globe, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris threatened to commit suicide if the curfew was not rolled back within two weeks. In an interview with a local news media outlet, Al-Hadath, the second-richest man in Egypt further called for a 'revolutionary decision.'
According to the translations of MEMO, the Egyptian billionaire said, "Let me tell you something, I will commit suicide if they extend the (curfew) period." "We need a revolutionary decision, regardless of the consequences; even if people get sick, they will recover," he added. In what may seem like an absolutely insensitive remark, Sawiris further said that Coronavirus only kills "one percent" of the patients, who mostly are elder people. However, Egypt has a 6% fatality rate.
Urging to end the nationwide lockdown amid the health crisis, the billionaire made three possible suggestions--firstly asked to separate workers into two alternate shifts, have employees sleep in factories to limit movement and lastly asked the Middle Eastern country to import enough COVID-19 kits for home-testing.
In a tweet on March 5, he said, "I took a decision, I don’t want to hear or speak about the coronavirus ever again. It’s unbelievable. Are we going to stop living because we are afraid of a virus?" Egypt has by far recorded 985 positive cases and 66 deaths. The cases soared after March 6 and continue to grow since.
WHO warns Middle East
The World Health Organisation on April 3, asked the Middle East to act fast to limit the spread of the pandemic. "New cases have been reported in some of the most vulnerable countries with fragile health systems," WHO's the director for the Eastern Mediterranean region said.
"We still have a window of opportunity, but this window is slowly closing day by day," he added. Out of all the countries in the Middle East, war-battered Yemen and Syria are particularly vulnerable to the outbreak and lack the medical infrastructure to with the novel Coronavirus.
Updated 11:52 IST, April 4th 2020