Cairo, May 20 (IANS): The Egyptian government has decided to extend the partial evening closure of shops, malls, restaurants and entertainment places until the end of May, while reopening public parks and beaches provided that anti-Covid measures are strictly implemented there, the cabinet said in a statement.

According to the statement announced on Wednesday, stores and entertainment places will continue closing at 9 p.m. until May 31, as an extension of a decision made on May 5, Xinhua news agency reported.

The extension decision excludes public beaches, parks and gardens "which are decided to be reopened to citizens provided that they strictly stick to the precautionary measures to face coronavirus".

Leading the country's coronavirus crisis management committee, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also extended the decision to reduce the attendance of administrative government employees.

He also ordered an expansion of the national program to vaccinate workers of tourism institutions nationwide.

Egypt has so far registered 248,078 Covid-19 cases in total, with 14,441 deaths and 182,693 recoveries.