Tunisia To Enter Covid-19 Lockdown On Anniversary Of Dictator's Fall

Tunis, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Jan, 2021 ) :Tunisia announced Tuesday a four-day coronavirus lockdown starting later this week in the face of a "very dangerous" situation in the North African country as infections spike.

The measures, which include a curfew between 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) -- brought forwards from the existing 8:00 pm curfew -- and 6:00 am, will be imposed from Thursday, the 10th anniversary of the toppling of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the face of mass protests.

Tunisia, where the Arab Spring started, has also been its relative success story -- but celebrations will be muted, as the revolutionary optimism of the pro-democracy movement that deposed Ben Ali has given way to hopelessness among the one third of young people without a job.

The pandemic has exacerbated economic and social tensions in the country, with Tunisia facing a steep rise in infections recently after only recording about 50 deaths in the first wave of the pandemic.

The recent rise in infections has seen several thousand new cases and dozens of new deaths reported each day, with a current official total of 5,284 deaths and 162,350 cases.

Nissaf Ben Alya, director of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases, which recommended the measures, warned "the situation is very dangerous... and exceeds the capacity to care for the sick".

Hospital officials have warned of a lack of intensive care beds, despite the establishment of makeshift hospitals.

Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi said classes in schools, colleges and faculties would be suspended from January 13 to 24.

All cultural and other events will be prohibited during the lockdown, he added, while also calling for people to work from home "as much as possible".

The minister attributed the rise in infections to a "lack of respect for health measures".