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Tunisia records highest covid rates in MENA, according to WHO 

June 30, 2021 at 11:37 am

People wear masks due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Tunis, Tunisia on 11 May 2020 [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]

Tunisia has recorded the highest number of coronavirus fatalities and infections in the Middle East and North Africa, the WHO reported yesterday.

In a statement to Anadolu Agency, the director of the organisation’s office in Tunisia, Yves Soteran, said: “Tunisia is the first in the Arab world and Africa in terms of the death toll and infection rates recorded since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Soteran noted that the number of recorded cases and fatalities in the central city of Kairouan is significant, adding that the organisation has reported a reduction in the number of victims internationally.

Tunisian authorities yesterday announced that the existing curfew would be extended this evening to between the hours of 8pm to 5am daily.

This came according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office following a meeting of the National Coronavirus Response Authority.

READ: Tunisia delegation in Switzerland to speed up delivery of covid vaccines

The statement added that it also decided to postpone or cancel all public events, whether in open or closed spaces, and tighten the application of all health protocols. Some 352,180 have recovered from the disease.

Yesterday the country recorded 5,251 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 414,182. Some 106 people have died of the virus, the Ministry of Health said, bringing the total number of fatalities to 14,843.