Egypt struggles with oxygen tank shortage amid second wave of COVID-19

Egypt struggles with oxygen tank shortage amid second wave of COVID-19

The Global Centre of Fatwas at Egypt's Al-Azhar said on Monday that hoarding medical supplies, including oxygen cylinders, to make profits at a time of crisis is religiously prohibited.

"Truth, justice and honesty are among the pillars of Islam, which also prohibits cheating, deception and lying,“ the centre said.

Citing verses from the Holy Quran that prohibit monopolies during crises, the centre said that any monopoly on medical or food supplies is a religious, economic and social crime because it causes harm to people.

Al-Azhar is considered the highest Islamic Sunni religious institution in Egypt and in the Muslim world, and this fatwa comes at a time when the country is facing a new crisis amid its fight against the coronavirus: a shortage in medical oxygen tanks.

Over the past two days, this crisis revealed itself when two incidents took place at public hospitals in Sharqiya and Gharbiya governorates, where six coronavirus patients reportedly died due to a lack of oxygen, according to videos and reports that went viral on social media.

In a statement on Sunday, the health ministry affirmed the availability of oxygen in sufficient quantities at all hospitals receiving coronavirus patients, including Al-Husayniah Central Hospital