Tunisia tightens movement restrictions and quarantine measures for "Corona"

The Tunisian authorities have tightened restrictions on movement and comprehensive quarantine measures in the capital and its neighboring states, which are scheduled for the weekend (today, Saturday and tomorrow, Sunday).

The governorate of Tunis and the three adjacent states (Manouba, Ben Arous and Ariana), which together make up the Greater Tunis region, decided to ban movement between them and prevent the movement of vehicles, in addition to preventing gatherings and all demonstrations and obligating the wearing of masks.

Several other states had taken the same step earlier, in light of the large increase in the number of deaths and people infected with the Corona virus, which in most regions exceeded the rate of 400 infected people per 100,000 residents, and reached a “very high alert” level, according to the Ministry of Health.

Most states exceeded this level by a large difference in daily injuries, as in Manouba, about 1,000 injuries per 100,000 residents, and in the capital, 735 injuries per 100,000 residents.

The rate of infections over the past week at the national level approached seven thousand cases per day, while the death rate reached 114.

The Scientific Committee to Combat the Corona Virus complains of a widespread breach of the health protocol in the streets and in open and closed spaces, which in its opinion caused a further spread of the virus.

Since this morning, security patrols have deployed at several intersections in the center of the capital to verify the exceptional movement licenses for some sectors. The traffic police also turned hundreds of vehicles on the intercity highways for violating quarantine measures, and the Ministry of Interior imposed penalties on violators.

The health authorities hope to break the cycles of infection with mutated strains of the Corona virus, especially the fast-spreading “Delta” virus, through short-term comprehensive quarantine measures and a night curfew, at a time when public hospitals are experiencing severe pressure in Covid 19 departments and a maximum occupancy rate for resuscitation and oxygen beds.

The head of the doctors' committee at Char Nicol Hospital in the capital, Nizar Al-Adari, told the German news agency (dpa): "We have increased the capacity, but we are unable to keep pace with the large increases in the number of patients, and this is evidenced by the large overcrowding in the emergency department."

Al-Adhari added that "sufficiency with the treatment policy alone in return for the increasing number of patients will not lead to winning the battle against the epidemic."

Yesterday, Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health, Nissaf Ben Alaya, said that the public health sector was in a state of "collapse" before the ministry issued a statement on Friday announcing the cohesion of the sector despite the great difficulties.

Some Arab countries, such as Qatar and Egypt, began earlier to send medical equipment and aid to support Tunisia's efforts to contain the health disaster, while other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya, Kuwait and Turkey, pledged to send urgent aid.

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