Great Pyramid of Giza lit up with coronavirus message: ‘Stay home, stay safe’

The Great Pyramid of Giza was lit up on Monday with a message of solidarity and support for health care workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Stay home. Stay safe. Thank you to those keeping us safe,” read the lights displayed on the more-than-4,000-year-old pyramid southwest of Cairo. The message from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities was posted in both English and Arabic. 

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khalid al-Anani told reporters that the display was a salute to health care workers treating COVID-19 patients as well as security services deployed during the nation’s curfew, according to outlet Egypt Independent.

On March 24, Egypt declared a two-week curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the country’s 100 million residents to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Those who violate the measure are to be punished under emergency laws, according to a Reuters report.

“I call on all Egyptians to fully comply with these measures,” President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi wrote on Twitter. “And I affirm that all elements of the Egyptian state will confront any attempts to breach them with the utmost firmness and resolution.”

The health ministry reported 47 new coronavirus cases and one death on Monday, bringing the nation’s total confirmed infections to 656 with 41 fatalities.