The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum was scheduled for the end of this year but after the coronavirus outbreak, a delay on the opening has recently been announced.

As much as it saddened us all especially that this is one of the most anticipated events worldwide, we are now hopeful that the delay won’t be too long after yesterday’s visit of Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled el-Anani to the museum and the President’s decision to carry out works on major projects

Yesterday, Minister Anani paid a visit to the museum in order to follow up on the latest developments of the project during the crisis, and to ensure that all preventive measures are being taken.

General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum Atef Moftah, Director of the Museum for Archaeological Affairs Al-Tayeb Abbas, and a number of leaders of the ministry and the museum all accompanied Anani during the visit.

The tour included a visit to the Archaeology Restoration Center, Wood Restoration Laboratory, where some of the artifacts of King Tutankhamun are being restored and an inspection of the museum’s construction site also took place.

According to Anani, that despite the current crisis of the coronavirus, development work of the museum hadn’t stopped and that is upon the President’s decision to carry out works on major projects but of course in respect to all precautionary measures.

Anani said that at the moment, 1700 laborers are working in the museum, besides 300 engineers and supervisors representing 33 Egyptian companies out of a total of 65 companies, completing work at the museum at a rate of 50 percent per day.

That comes in light of the decision to reduce the number of workers as a precautionary measure taken by the state to protect workers from the novel virus.

Moreover, sterilization and disinfection of the project’s site, restoration laboratories and administrative offices are taken place daily.

Moftah also added that workers are examined everyday upon arriving to the museum and before leaving, in addition to passing through a sterilization corridor before entering the museum.

Also worth noting is that two sterilization lanes/corridors have been placed on site, in order to reach the project’s full work capacity after the sterilization and disinfection procedures have been completed.

The process of disinfection and sterilization isn’t done once but throughout the day! It’s divided into three periods and that is to reach maximum safety measures.

Not only that, Moftah also added that a training course is being given to all museum staff, in an attempt to spread awareness on the virus.

We’re very proud of our Egypt, very proud of all the measures taken by the government and their efforts in ensuring maximum safety.