Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced postponement of the launch of mega-projects including the Grand Egyptian Museum and moving civil servants to a planned new capital city to 2021 from 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the presidency said on April 4.

The new Museum had been due to open later this year, while the first group of civil servants was to be transferred to the government district in the new administrative capital in June.

Sisi’s government said it wishes to start running Egypt from the new city, 45 km (28 miles) east of Cairo, as soon as the middle of 2020. But the $58 billion project has struggled to raise funds and faced other challenges after some investors pulled out.

Egypt has confirmed more than 1,000 infections with the coronavirus. The authorities have taken measures to combat the epidemic, such as a nationwide nighttime curfew and the closure of tourism facilities.