The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has direct for enabling free access of citizens to the hotlines dedicated for the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), numbers 105 and 15335, from landline and mobile through the four mobile operators.

Talaat also directed for adding 200 additional service providers in Telecom Egypt (TE) centers hosting that service, for answering inquiries and increasing call receiving capacity on MoHP hotlines.

This comes as part of the measures taken by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to implement the state’s plan for facing Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). It also comes within the framework of MCIT keenness to contribute to raising community health awareness during this critical period, and ensure access of citizens to correct health information from trusted sources, without bearing additional costs.

MCIT took a number of measures and initiatives to alleviate the burden of citizens and facilitate their daily activities, to follow the precautionary measures taken by the state to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

On top of these measures comes MCIT initiative for supporting e-learning during the education suspension period. This included increasing home internet packages by 20% and enabling free browsing of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank and educational platforms and websites, to ensure education is not affected during the suspension period. This is in addition to increasing the number of post offices working an evening shift, until 6 PM, from 350 to 2000, nationwide, during pension payment days.

Moreover, the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) agreed with the mobile operators in Egypt on granting citizens 30 times the charged balance, as free minutes and units, when charging using e-payment methods.