Algeria is grappling with its third wave of infections linked to Covid-19: the daily record for contamination was (again) broken last Wednesday, with 1,927 cases, according to figures from the Ministry of Health. An upsurge in the epidemic results above all in a shortage of oxygen for individuals and certain hospitals.
On its Facebook page, the internal medicine department of the CHU Constantine, for example, the main hospital in this city in the east of the country, calls on all its fellow citizens to “lend for the month of August” their oxygen concentrators to come. in aid of the patients present in the service.
In an interview with the independent media TSA (“Tout Sur l’Algerie”), Dr. Mohamed Yousfi, head of the infectious diseases department at Boufarik hospital and president of the National Union of Specialist Public Health Practitioners (SNPSSP), affirms that patients with Covid-19 die every day because of the lack of oxygen: “Currently, we take care of patients, whom we stabilize, then we lose, for lack of oxygen” he said, referring to the number of 13 deaths a day in his service because of this problem.
Oxygen shortage
According to our colleagues from AFP, volunteers everywhere have started to organize themselves to relieve the sick. Some entrepreneurs distribute oxygen cylinders free of charge to individuals. The latest example to date, a supporters’ club in the capital, that of the Mouloudia Club d’Alger (MCA), stood out by renouncing to celebrate the centenary of the club in order to donate the money collected for the benefit of the purchase. oxygen cylinders for patients with Covid-19.
Faced with the urgent demand, the government must bring in thousands of oxygen concentrators. Prime Minister Aïmene Benabderrahmane has also promised to import more than 160,000 liters of oxygen as well as ten production units with a capacity of 20,000 to 40,000 liters per day. Ironically, this acceleration comes a month after the Algerian government decided to send 20 tons of medical equipment including trucks of oxygen to its Tunisian neighbor, then much more affected by the virus.
TV icon dies from coronavirus
An additional symbol of this comeback of the virus: the announcement of the death of the former editor-in-chief and star presenter of the national television news at 8 p.m. in Algeria, Karim Boussalem. Aged 49, he died in Tizi Ouzou hospital last Sunday after spending five days in intensive care following his contamination with Covid-19. “Algeria is losing one of its young skills which have always ensured to serve the country and promote the profession of journalism” communicated the Minister of Communication on the same day.
This news was all the more boring for the regime as it at the same time called on the country’s mainstream media to ” avoid focusing excessively on negative news ” in their coverage of the health crisis. The Algerian Audiovisual Authority thus urged journalists to ” fulfill their missions towards viewers, avoiding focusing excessively on negative news and tragic stories linked to the Covid-19 contamination”.
Sluggish vaccination
Faced with this third wave of the pandemic in Algeria, the authorities have also prohibited access to certain beaches and decided to once again close mosques in the most affected prefectures, including Algiers, Oran, Constantine, and Sétif.
Above all, they promised to speed up the vaccination campaign, which has fallen behind schedule. With 44 million inhabitants, Algeria is the most populous country in the Maghreb but, six months after the launch of the vaccination campaign, only 3.5 million people have received their doses of vaccine recognized last Thursday by the First Minister.
Algeria has so far received around 9 million doses of vaccines, mainly Russian (Sputnik) and Chinese (Sinovac and Sinopharm), and should receive an additional 9 million during the month of August. The country would also be able to produce the Sputnik V and Sinovac vaccines locally from September.
Since the start of the epidemic in February 2020, the country has deplored 4,189 deaths but these official figures are in fact largely underestimated, according to testimonies from some health professionals reported by local media.
All the Maghreb in turmoil
As always with the coronavirus, the country’s situation actually reflects a wider wave of contaminations, which affects the entire region.
Morocco, with 5,587 daily cases (+ 118%), is the country where the pandemic has accelerated the most in the world, among those having recorded at least 1,000 daily contaminations during the last week of July.
A national curfew also came into effect on Tuesday and travel between several cities, including Marrakech, is limited to holders of a vaccination certificate.
On the other hand and unlike Algeria, the country is rather at the forefront of vaccination on the African continent, with more than 24 million doses already administered and 28% of its population fully vaccinated.
Tunisia has been hit hard by the Delta variant for several months now: between March and July, the number of deaths from the new coronavirus has more than doubled, now exceeding 20,000 deaths. Lack of respect for barrier gestures, late arrival of vaccines, difficulties in deciding and enforcing consistent restrictions: Tunisia found itself with the worst official death rate in the world over the last seven days, according to an AFP count produced from official reports.
An epidemic peak has also undermined Tunisian democracy since President Kais Saied recently granted himself full powers, in particular suspending the activity of Parliament for a month, in the name of the incompetence of the previous government to contain the virus. A coup which provoked strong criticism in the world but which did not prevent international aid from landing in the country: China, United Arab Emirates, United States, Italy, etc. Faced with the health crisis, vaccines ended up pouring in from all over the world to Tunisia.
