The Ministry of Health in Tunisia announced yesterday that the number of people infected with the new Corona virus has increased ten times a month after the border was opened, and the country registered its first death in several weeks.
Tunisia, whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism, took early and tough measures when the epidemic appeared in March, and managed to contain it relatively well. By mid-June, the country had recorded only a few new infections per week, all with returnees from abroad, who underwent mandatory quarantine, when it began lifting restrictions, including 14 days of quarantine at the hotel upon arrival. Then the borders opened on June 27, without imposing specific measures on those coming from countries that are classified as "green." In July, the number of recorded injuries increased 10 times a week.
Among the injured are 26 employees at Tunis Airport, which prompted the Civil Aviation Organization to hold a crisis meeting to promote and implement health measures at the airport. The Ministry of Health announced the death of a newcomer in the Coruna virus, the first recorded death since June 17, raising the death toll to 51 deaths, in addition to 1,500 recorded infections.
The Coved-19 epidemic monitoring committee is scheduled to meet next week to discuss the measures to be taken, while almost all restrictions have been lifted since June, as shops, places of worship and tourist attractions have been opened.
The borders with neighboring countries remained closed, such as Algeria, which was badly affected by the epidemic, and Libya.
The epidemic threatens to lose tens of thousands of jobs in the tourism, automotive and informal trade sectors, while the country is struggling to curb unemployment, which afflicts a third of young people.
The wave of social protests that have been going on for weeks in the south of the country impede the production of oil and phosphate, which are two important sources of foreign currency.