One third of Egypt’s population of more than 100 million lives in poverty, surviving on about $1.50 or less a day.
For many who were already struggling, already law incomes have vanished since a curfew was imposed on March 24 to stem the spread of the virus.
Egypt has so far recorded 94 deaths out of 1,450 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 respiratory disease.
Egypt’s official unemployment rate is around 10 percent, and more than five million people work as day laborers in the informal economy, the government estimates, often without any form of social protection.
Millions of pounds in donations have poured in over the past month, but the demand to alleviate the suffering of the working poor is at an all-time high.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday issued a directive to provide day laborers 500 pounds (just over $30) per month for three months to ease their financial hardship.
But experts say this will only partially cushion the blow.
“The pandemic is certainly going to mean a massive increase in the numbers of working poor in countries such as Egypt,” said Adam Hanieh, who researches labor issues in the Arab world at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
The virus and its economic impact could spawn “a range of unpredictable and unexpected consequences,” he said, pointing to “significant disruptions in food supplies” and “enormous pressures on the country’s healthcare system”.
“This will undoubtedly provoke social protest and — if Egypt’s history is any guide — a ratcheting up of repression and the increased use of authoritarian measures,” Hanieh warned.
