The health situation is still critical, with 80 deaths in 24 hours, 6,234 in total since the start of the pandemic.
“The tests I carried out confirmed that I had contracted the virus despite all the necessary precautions and adherence to health protocol,” Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi announced on social media. He says this further strengthens his resolve to fight the coronavirus by providing vaccines to his compatriots. The minister also announces that he presents “severe symptoms”.
أثبتت اليوم التحاليل التي أجريتها إصابتي بكوفيد 19 ، بالرغم من اتخاذي لجميع الاحتياطات اللازمة واحترامي للبروتوكول الصحي.
أعراض قاسية أسال الله السلامة للجميع منها،جعلتني أصر أكثر على مواصلة الجهود الحثيثة لتوفير التلاقيح لحماية أبناء بلدي من هذا الوباء.— Othman Jerandi (@OJerandi) January 24, 2021
Red indicators
Tunisia has recorded 6,234 deaths in total since the start of the pandemic, including 80 for the single day of Saturday, January 23, 2021. The curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. and the ban on parties and gatherings, which have been in effect since October, were extended until February 14. Classes resumed this Monday, January 25. “The authorities have tolerated the reopening of schools, colleges, high schools and universities, while recommending a strict application of preventive measures and the health protocol,” observes Digital Tunisia. Cafes and restaurants can also reopen with a sanitary protocol: reduction in the number of customers, 30% indoors and 50% outdoors.
“If the indicators do not improve, other drastic measures can be taken, such as general containment, which would undoubtedly have even more dangerous economic and social repercussions”
Nissaf Ben Alaya, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and director of the National Observatory for New and Emerging Diseases at Webdo
Social repercussions
The International Monetary Fund encouraged Tunisia on January 23 to set up a reform plan and strengthen social protection while the country, which is facing an outbreak of contamination by the coronavirus, is struggling to make ends meet its budget for 2021. The pandemic has exacerbated the social crisis, bringing tourism, a crucial sector of the Tunisian economy, to its knees, and disrupting the vast informal sector. Violent demonstrations have erupted several nights in a row in the past week, followed by rallies to demand better social policy and the release of hundreds of protesters arrested by the police.
