Libya official warns of rising number of COVID-19 cases in Tripoli, Misrata

A Libyan doctor takes a blood sample from a shopkeeper to test for the coronavirus in Tripoli, Libya on 1 June 2020 [MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images]

The Director of the Libyan National Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Badr Al-Din Al-Najjar, warned that the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the capital, Tripoli and the city of Misrata, is on the increase.

The number of cases requiring medical attention in Tripoli and Misrata has also risen, he added.

The Libyan medical official said the epidemiological situation in Libya has deteriorated although some regions had sporadic cases compared to Tripoli and Misrata.

According to Al-Najjar, the centre’s labs carry out 1,000-1,500 tests per day but should be testing 10,000 people each day, adding that new COVID-19 testing devices have recently arrived which should improve capacity.

READ: Libya to impose full lockdown as pandemic cases grow

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