Covid-19 in Tunisia: “catastrophic” situation and “collapsed” health system

Published on : 07/09/2021 – 10:11

The health situation is “catastrophic” in Tunisia, which has recorded in recent weeks a record number of Covid-19 contaminations, announced Thursday, July 8, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, referring to the “collapse” of the system sanitary.

“The current health situation is catastrophic, (…) the rate of cases has increased enormously. The health system has unfortunately collapsed”, declared Nissaf Ben Alaya, during an interview with a Tunisian radio station.

According to the spokesperson, it is now difficult to find an available bed or to have the necessary amount of oxygen in hospitals across the country. “If we do not unite our efforts, the (health) disaster will worsen,” she warned.

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Hospitals in Tunisia have known for two weeks a large influx of patients during this wave of the spread of Covid-19, which is reaching unprecedented levels.

Tuesday, Tunisia recorded 9,823 cases including 134 deaths in one day, figures not reached since March 2020. In total, the country has experienced 464,914 cases including 15,735 deaths, for about 12 million inhabitants.

On social networks, images are circulating, showing patients on the floor in overwhelmed hospitals in the capital or in poor regions, such as Kairouan.

Extended confinement and curfew

The field hospitals set up in recent months are no longer enough: 92% of resuscitation beds in the public are currently occupied and those in the capital are full, according to figures from the Ministry of Health published on its official Facebook page.

Faced with the situation, neighboring Libya decided Thursday to close its borders and suspend flights with Tunisia for a week, said a spokesperson for the Libyan government.

To limit the spread of the virus, the Tunisian authorities have ordered the containment of the population in six governorates where the rate of spread of the virus is particularly high, including Tunis and its suburbs.

The government extended the confinement and nighttime curfew in these six governorates until July 31 and announced the ban on travel between regions, according to a government statement.

The vaccination campaign in the country is keeping a slow pace, observers judge. Of more than three million people registered for the vaccine, only 608,332 received both doses.

With AFP