Covid-19 in Tunisia: the health situation is improving markedly

A Tunisian soldier injects a dose of vaccine into a patient in Kesra, 130 kilometers south of Tunis on July 13, 2021. AP - Saber Zidi

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

The Tunisian presidency announced this Tuesday, August 18, the easing of the curfew, which will now begin at midnight instead of 10 p.m.

A decision taken after the improvement of the health situation.

The main indicators of the Covid-19 epidemic show encouraging data: decrease in the number of infections and deaths reported daily.

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With our correspondent in Tunis,

Matthias Raynal

Last July, a video went around the world.

The director of a Tunisian hospital, Mourad Thabti, bursts into tears: he has no more oxygen to give to his patients.

“

Honestly, we no longer had the physical or logistical resources. There was no room to hospitalize the patients, it was catastrophic,

 ”recalls Mourad Thabti, a doctor in a private clinic in southern Tunisia. At his level, he noted a change: “

Currently, there is a lull in the health crisis. We see fewer serious cases that require hospitalization at the Covid service.

 "

Since the beginning of the month, the number of hospitalizations has fallen by 25%, making it possible to reduce the pressure on health structures.

“

There is still a good fraction of Tunisians who are vaccinated.

Thanks to mass vaccination, we had some coverage,

 ”explains Professor Hechmi Louzir, member of the scientific committee for the fight against the coronavirus.  

Over a million doses of vaccines injected

Two national immunization days have just been organized in the country, allowing the injection of more than one million doses. 

" 

I would say that we must now focus much more on the elderly who did not show up to the open houses," 

continues the professor

.

Because it is in these populations that we risk having severe forms.

 "

Even if we must remain cautious, even if the hope of a way out of the crisis is looming.

Between May and August

, at the height of the fourth wave, the death toll doubled, now exceeding 22,000 victims.

After South Africa, Tunisia is the most bereaved country on the continent. 

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  • Tunisia

  • Health and medicine

  • Coronavirus