Tunisia Ends Coronavirus Curfew

Tunisians walk in a street in the village of Sidi Bou Said on May 30, 2020, after shops reopened following a three-month shutdown due to COVID-19. (AFP)
Tunisians walk in a street in the village of Sidi Bou Said on May 30, 2020, after shops reopened following a three-month shutdown due to COVID-19. (AFP)
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Tunisia Ends Coronavirus Curfew

Tunisians walk in a street in the village of Sidi Bou Said on May 30, 2020, after shops reopened following a three-month shutdown due to COVID-19. (AFP)
Tunisians walk in a street in the village of Sidi Bou Said on May 30, 2020, after shops reopened following a three-month shutdown due to COVID-19. (AFP)

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Monday ordered an end to a curfew imposed in March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, his office said, citing success in controlling the disease.

Tunisia has already reopened shops, businesses, mosques, cafes and hotels after locking down nearly all normal business for months.

Tunisia in March closed its international borders, stopped all movement between towns and cities, shuttered mosques, shops, schools, cafes and restaurants, imposed a nightly curfew and stopped people leaving homes at day for most reasons.

It has recorded under 1,087 cases of the coronavirus and 49 deaths, compared with nearly 10,000 cases in neighboring Algeria. The only recent cases came from people arriving into quarantine from abroad.

Schools will stay closed to most students until the start of the new academic year in September and the government still restricts social gatherings at homes and urges the wearing of masks. International borders will reopen fully in late June.

Tunisia’s government has announced compensation measures to help businesses and needy families with the economic effects of the lockdown and has agreed a package of financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund.



WHO Says 28 Health Workers Killed in Lebanon by Israeli Strikes over 24 hours

Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike on a village in southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike on a village in southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
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WHO Says 28 Health Workers Killed in Lebanon by Israeli Strikes over 24 hours

Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike on a village in southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike on a village in southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

The World Health Organization chief said on Thursday that 28 healthcare workers had been killed over the past 24 hours in Lebanon, where Israel has launched airstrikes.

"Many (other) health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online press briefing.

"This is severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services," he said, Reuters reported.

The global health agency will not be able to deliver a large planned shipment of trauma and medical supplies to the country on Friday due to flight restrictions, he added.