Tunisia Reports Over 13,000 COVID-19 Deaths
Arab World
Tunis - Asharq Al-Awsat
After imposing a one-week targeted lockdown in the Kairouan governorate, Tunisia took drastic measures on Tuesday in Kasserine to curb the rise in COVID-19 cases, urging citizens to abide by precautionary measures. The regional committee for the fight against the coronavirus in Kasserine said curfew will start at 8 pm instead of 10 pm, while weekly markets in the governorate will be closed. Also, officials issued a decision to remove tables and chairs from cafes and restaurants, suspend prayers in all mosques and banned cultural and sports activities. The exceptional measures were taken after the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the country overpassed 13,000, compared to only 50 cases in June 2020. A sharp increase in the number of positive cases was particularly reported in Kasserine with an increase in the number of deaths in addition to a high occupancy rate of beds equipped with oxygen. "The epidemic situation in the governorate of Kasserine is very dangerous as in other governorates of the country including Kairouan, Sidi Bouzid, Beja, Siliana, Kef and Jendouba," Nissaf Ben Alaya, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Health said this week. She stressed the imperative of applying health protocols that have proven their effectiveness in preventing coronavirus infections. In Tunisia, an epidemiological alert reached very high levels in 21 out of 24 districts, while the average number of new infections reported each day increased by 100 infections per 100k people in most regions, despite the decrease in the coronavirus-related deaths. In the past 24 hours, 1.018 COVID-19 infections and 47 fatalities were recorded in the country, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The rate of positive tests is estimated at 21.32 percent on the same day after 4,774 test laboratories were carried out. Meanwhile, Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi is paying a visit to Geneva on June 8-9, to meet with World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a bid to speed up the import of COVID-19 vaccines as part of the Covax initiative. Mechichi will also meet with International Labor Organization (ILO) Guy Ryder and the President of the World Trade Organization as well as other officials, according to a Prime Ministry press release Tuesday. Tunisian authorities fear a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic would be more difficult to handle. Accordingly, they took precautionary and preventive measures to contain its spread and kept restriction measures in effect until June 27.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3017391/tunisia-reports-over-13000-covid-19-deaths
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