Editor’s note: The COVID-19 roundup is part of the Mada Morning Digest, our daily overview of what is making waves in the Arabic language press. If you want all the latest updates on COVID-19 and other leading stories — including coverage of the economy, foreign policy, Parliament, the judiciary, media and much more — to land in your mailbox each morning, subscribe for a free trial here.

Here are the latest figures on COVID-19 as of Saturday, May 9:

The Doctors Syndicate has made a concerted push for a stricter lockdown, with news released on Saturday of a proposal that would keep most laborers in Egypt at home. 
 
The call comes as Egypt’s COVID-19 cases continued to climb at a steeper rate over the weekend, with around 1,000 added to the tally since Thursday.

Yet even amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, the government seems to be doubling down on its plan to ease off the lockdown in the coming weeks, pushing for “public awareness” as an alternative foil to the spread of the virus.

In a letter sent to the Cabinet on May 4, the Doctors Syndicate advised the Cabinet to impose a total lockdown for the remainder of Ramadan, keeping workers and families across the country in their homes. The syndicate suggested that informal workers and employees working on national projects be issued special permits, while medical staff and journalists be excused from the curfew altogether, reports Cairo24.
 
The Doctors Syndicate described a “war strategy” of “hit and run,” arguing that a swift strike against the virus would allow for a quick return to work afterward. The syndicate also argued that the economic cost of a total lockdown during Ramadan would be lower than one during ordinary business periods, since productivity tends to be lower during the month of fasting.

Yet as the government persists with the later Ramadan curfew, with talk of the lockdown being lifted entirely after Eid al-Fitr, official comments in Saturday’s media sought to absolve the government of responsibility for the ascending curve and to place the onus on Egypt’s citizens. “Health Ministry: Rise in COVID-19 cases is citizens’ responsibility, not the state’s,” reads a headline from the privately owned Youm7 newspaper. 
 
A headline in the privately owned Masrawy news website reads “Health minister: People are responsible for increase in coronavirus cases,” citing a comment from Health Minister Hala Zayed during a visit to the Alexandria Fever Hospital on Saturday. Zayed provided assurances that the ministry is providing a top-notch healthcare system and that strict precautionary measures are in place to combat the virus. 
 
The line on citizens’ responsibility cropped up repeatedly in officials’ statements across the weekend, including in Parliament and on the airwaves. 
 
The pro-state Nation’s Future Party is also launching a campaign to educate citizens and raise awareness on the how-tos of “living with” the novel coronavirus.

Beyond the top news, several other items related to COVID-19 made it to the headlines over the last few days. 

• Workplace infections seemed to spike over the weekend in Egypt.

• • Virtually all staff at the Talaat Harb branch of Banque Du Caire have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, according to Cairo24, which cites the spouse of one of the bank’s staff. Cairo24 reports that an estimated workforce of 40 – 60  employees from the bank were tested on Wednesday, claiming that all except for three employees tested positive. However, Chief Executive Officer Tarek Fayed told Cairo24 on Friday that there were no more than five cases among the bank’s staff. Banque du Caire workers have raised repeated complaints about a lack of appropriate measures in bank branches, especially outside Cairo.
  • A worker at a branch of McDonald’s in Damanhour, Beheira has contracted the virus, prompting the Beheira Health Directorate to shut the McDonalds down for 48 hours of sterilization. Staff have been sent home for 14 days’ quarantine, reports Cairo24. The Beheira branch was disinfected, and staff have been relocated from Alexandria to continue operations.
  • Just as the courts began to open up again, Nasr City Court was ordered to close for 14 days on Saturday after a court secretary tested positive for COVID-19, the Justice Ministry announced. Sessions scheduled at the court will be now be held at New Cairo Court.
     
• Five more deaths were recorded among Egypt’s medical staff due to COVID-19 over the weekend.
  • Attiyat Arboud died on Saturday, marking the fifth officially recorded death due to COVID-19 among nurses, according to the Nurses Syndicate.
  • Dr. Ahmed Ezzat, deputy director of Sharqiya’s Health Directorate, also died on Saturday, reports Al-Ahram.
  •  A nurse and a doctor died of COVID-19 on Thursday, while another nurse died on Friday.
• Conflict was ignited between hospital managers and medical staff at the Aswan Teaching Hospital after 16 of the workers tested positive for COVID-19. The diagnoses prompted the hospital, which is the main provider of low-cost healthcare for Aswan’s residents, to close. Medical staff have claimed that administrators limited their access to tests, even when medical staff showed COVID-19 symptoms, in a statement blaming the administration for the spike of infections. The Health Ministry has announced it will send doctors and nurses from Cairo to resume health services at the hospital.
• Doctors with chronic conditions could be expected to return to work despite their heightened susceptibility to the novel coronavirus. Dr. Emad Ali al-Tayeb, head of the inspection department at Qena’s Health Directorate, was reportedly fired for not showing up to work despite applying for paid leave on the grounds of having high blood pressure, a condition that increases the risk of COVID-19 mortality. Tayeb’s situation occurred despite a March decision from the PM allowing employees with chronic conditions to be granted paid leave. Dr. Tayeb filed a report to the public prosecutor against the health deputy at Qena for unfair dismissal.
• Additional areas went under localized lockdown across Egypt over the weekend
  • Six homes with 27 residents in the Sohag villages of Nagaa al-Dayer and Nagaa Abo Hussein have been put under quarantine after four cases were confirmed locally.
  • Shanshor village in Gharbiya has been placed under total lockdown after 15 COVID-19 cases and three deaths were recorded.

Twenty-four of the residents of Nawag village in Gharbiya have also been put under isolation, joining neighboring villages Qaisariyah and Meit al-Haroon.