Tunisia orders lockdown amid 'worst' ever health crisis
Tunisia ordered a partial lockdown from Sunday for the week-long Eid Al-Fitr holidays, warning that any more upsurge in corona virus infections could overwhelm professional care facilities.Announcing the measure on Friday, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said Tunisia was going right through "the worst health crisis in its history."Mosques, markets and nonessential businesses will be closed beneath the new restrictions, that can come as Muslims mark the finish of the month of Ramadan, said Mechichi.
"Health institutions are in threat of collapse," Mechichi said, adding that medics were stretched to the limit, with around 100 persons a day dying of COVID-19. A lot more than 500 people are currently in intensive care, an unprecedented number which has required medics to create field hospitals, and the North African country is struggling to meet the demand for oxygen.
Under new rules, travel will be banned between regions, gatherings and celebrations prohibited, and a 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew imposed. Tunisians are encouraged to leave their homes limited to what's strictly necessary, government spokeswoman Hasna Ben Slimane said.
The Mediterranean country, with a population of around 12 million, has recorded a lot more than 300,000 corona virus cases and over 11,200 deaths. Tunisia's economy has lurched from one crisis to another since the country's 2011 revolution, with GDP estimated to have contracted by a record 8.2 percent this past year.Mechichi had said many times in recent weeks that Tunisia struggles to afford to repeat the restrictions set up in March 2020 in the beginning of the pandemic.
