Boumhel (Tunisia) (AFP)

In a popular district of Tunis, Doctor Ouadi goes to the bedside of a Covid-19 patient for a consultation that will cost him nothing, paid for and organized by an NGO which hopes to relieve overloaded hospitals.

Neïla, 28, welcomes the doctor with relief at her home in the Boumhel district.

Sick of the Covid, she recovered after going to the hospital emergency room.

There, doctors gave her the CoviDar number to follow her husband, also infected with the virus.

The NGO, whose name is made up of the words "Covid" and "dar" ("house" in Arabic), was launched in December 2020 by several charities.

It is managed by doctors and health professionals.

"When we are at home, we sleep better, we are surrounded, we have better morale with the best possible conditions" to heal, says general practitioner Hichem Ouadi, who provides medical visits for CoviDar.

The initiative is according to him "a chance for needy patients".

But, underlines this 60-year-old doctor, it is also "a boost for our colleagues in hospitals who are overwhelmed (...) We must get our hands dirty, everyone must help."

Many patients are slow to seek treatment for lack of means, others go to the emergency room for lack of adequate close monitoring.

CoviDar aims to take care of patients at the very onset of their symptoms, with the aim of preventing their possible hospitalization, and to provide them with daily medical monitoring so that they can be cared for at home for as long as possible.

"I am happy that my husband is treated at home, in front of my eyes, I was able to take care of him as best I could and follow him little by little," says Neïla.

- Volunteers overwhelmed -

A total of 140 doctors and nurses perform paid medical visits through donations from individuals and businesses, according to CoviDar.

Some 28 medical students handle patient calls via a toll-free number, operational 7 days a week.

CoviDar has thus taken care of 2,100 patients, 98% of which have been "fully recovered without hospitalization", explains one of its coordinators, Souad Dziri.

The NGO also follows patients leaving the hospital.

The idea of ​​CoviDar came to doctors and leaders of the medical sector after the first epidemic wave - in September 2020 - "because we saw all the hospitals and clinics overwhelmed" by the patients of the Covid-19, indicates Ms. Dziri.

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The NGO began its care in two regions, Ben Arous near Tunis, and Monastir (east), among the most affected at the time by the pandemic.

As its means allowed it, the NGO extended its operations to six other governorates.

"We are currently solicited by the whole country (...) All the volunteers are underwater", admits Ms. Dziri.

According to the latest official figures, Tunisia has recorded nearly 500,000 confirmed cases and 16,388 deaths - including more than a hundred registered every day currently - out of 12 million inhabitants.

- "Do your best" -

Since January, medical student Sarah Souissi, 26, has joined CoviDar.

She answers 25 calls on average during her four hours of daily call duty.

"The majority of people are relatives of patients affected by Covid-19 who anxiously ask for care," she said.

Other people call to request an oxygen concentrator or to inquire about treatment.

Happy to help in this difficult period, she says she is "a little stressed", especially when she thinks about the fact that "the State does not have the means" to cope.

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In total, CoviDar has already collected 350,000 dinars (106,000 euros) but still needs 200,000 dinars to provide care during the months of July and August, and to cover the national territory as much as possible, notes Ms. Dziri.

"CoviDar is doing its maximum, but the state must also do its maximum to have a mass vaccination and slow down this wave" of the epidemic, she pleads.

© 2021 AFP