Funerals, Weddings Cause Spike in COVID-19 Cases in Libya

Arab World

July 26th, 7:20am

Cairo - Jamal Jawhar

Medical team in Benghazi, Asharq Al-Awsat

Local officials and medics in Libya have complained of citizens in different regions of the country ignoring social distancing recommendations and insisting to hold social gatherings which has led to a spike in COVID-19 infections. Coronavirus cases in Libya are on the rise, recording over a 100 cases daily, which has heightened fears of failing to stem the spread of the virus. The national center for disease control, in a statement, revealed that the total count of virus infections has risen to 2,424 after recording an additional 110 cases on Friday. So far, 57 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in Libya. The head of the national center for disease control Badereddiene al-Najjar, while inspecting the Misrata Airport on Friday, called for strict social distancing measures at the airport to protect workers there from getting infected. He also praised efforts spent by Misrata authorities in spotting and following up with coronavirus cases. Medics across Libya have warned of many citizens ignoring health preventative measures and insisting to hold gatherings like funerals, weddings and livestock markets. The emergency room for crisis management at a municipality in Tripoli said that despite repeated warnings, some citizens are still insisting on going to offer condolences at funerals, which caused the municipality to raise the number of infections and deaths to 33 cases and 4 deaths, noting that 29 people were infected after attending a funeral. The emergency room, however, said that the pandemic can be contained given that citizens play their roles, noting that there is an increase in COVID-19 cases in shelters that have reached their full capacity. It also called on citizens to boycott funerals, stressing the dangers of masses gathering in the same place, and underlined the importance of wearing face protective masks. It also called on citizens to mention the names of all those they came in contact with, without concealing any information.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2412016/funerals-weddings-cause-spike-covid-19-cases-libya