Astronaut vacation and disinfectant in Egypt

As soon as you get off the bus at the entrance of the Carols Hotel in Marsa Matruh, a spa town on Egypt's north coast, you are approached by a man who looks like he has just stepped out of an astronaut movie and sprays his bags with a sort of sulphation machine loaded with disinfectant.

Next to the man dressed as one of the passengers of Apollo 13 with a suit that covers him from head to toe is a small army of individuals with their faces covered by a large plastic screen, white coats, caps, masks and disposable gloves.

On the right, one of them is gesturing towards a surface covered by a white cloth impregnated with bleach, where the visitor must wipe the soles of his shoes and then be shot in the forehead with a pistol-shaped thermometer.

"Come in." The host does not have a fever. The man enters and comes across a table full of pamphlets in various languages that reveal the secrets of Marsa Matruh, one of the tourist enclaves that the authorities have reopened in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two receptionists hand out masks and offer a squirt of disinfectant behind the counter, the smiles hidden under blue throwaway fabrics.

"No, take the pen from that other boat," says one of them in alarm, explaining that pens are also disposable.

After signing, the vacation between astronauts and disinfectants begins.

Disinfectant is ubiquitous. When you call the elevator, there's a dispenser. When you enter the room, you are greeted by sachets. And when you sit in the lobby, there are pots waiting for you at every table.

In the pool area, employees carefully clean each sunbed every 15 minutes.

At dinner time the usual beach tourism buffets are missing, the chairs are further apart than usual and a QR code informs the visitor of the menu that will be served tonight.

In this way, "there is no need to talk, you know what the menu is and it starts to be served", explains Efe Safwat Gerges, managing director of this complex with a private beach, swimming pool and a large number of gardens, restaurants and bars.

He says that at the Carols they spray the rooms with disinfectant and keep them empty for at least 24 hours when each guest leaves.

Authorities in Egypt, which is still at the peak of infection with some 1,300 cases per day for about 65,000 cases and more than 2,700 deaths, began allowing hotels to reopen a few weeks ago and will be open to the international public from July.

However, there is a wide range of limits and protocols, including that they are only allowed to occupy 50% of their capacity, which is why Gerges explains that there is "a lot of space" left over and empty rooms are alternated with occupied ones for an extra touch of social distancing.

He acknowledges that the pandemic has had a "huge, huge bad effect" on business, with the peak season usually starting in May. This year it has been delayed, but they already have reservations for Italian tourist groups at the end of the month.

"For now, fingers crossed, we are in demand because not only us, most people are stuck in their rooms and want to get out and enjoy the summer. Resorts like these are safer than any city, they have open air, sun and space, I think it's even safer than our houses," he concluded.

Fever guns and astronauts with sprayers have become the new post-coronavirus tonic, not only in Egyptian hotels, but also in citadels, museums and other tourist attractions.

To discover the intricate wreaths and necklaces covered in precious stones, medals and gold binoculars of Egyptian royalty at the Royal Jewellery Museum in northern Alexandria, it is compulsory to wear a mask.

A large lady gives each visitor a pair of blue plastic booties, like those in the operating room, and will not let him set foot in the palace of Princess Fatma El Zahraa until he has his shoes well covered with them.

Round stickers placed on the floor in the corridors and at the foot of the display cases remind the visitor to keep a distance of at least two metres from the rest of the people in the room, whose number will, of course, be reduced.

According to Efe Engy Hamdy, the museum's curator, the facility reopened on June 28 after a three-month hiatus due to the pandemic and is taking strict measures such as taking the fever to everyone and displaying lists with hospitals specializing in coronavirus in Alexandria.

"Anyone who enters the museum has to wear gloves and a mask and (drink) alcohol, and cover their shoes," the curator said.

And that's when the visitor himself begins to look like the astronauts.