Carthage International Airport received Thursday the first flight of Tunisian expatriates returning from Paris as Tunisia lifted this week the majority of restrictions put in place in early March to combat the novel coronavirus.
Passengers were sent to a mandatory one-week quarantine in hotels after the Tunisian authorities had earlier called for self-quarantine measures.
Repatriation flights from Paris, Leon, Marseille, Nice, Munich, Frankfort, Kiev, Bucharest, Brussels, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Verona, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar will continue until June 26.
The country has set a condition for returnees to sign a written paper pledging to abide by a 14-day self-quarantine in addition to other measures such as approving follow-up procedures by health teams and having a negative test result for COVID-19 issued 72 hours before arrival.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus response team and the Tunisian Health Ministry discussed the state’s measures as it opens the border to welcome Tunisians residing abroad or foreigners arriving for medical tourism.
Concerning opening the border, Tunisian Minister of Health Abdellatif Mekki said that Tunisians have a “constitutional right” to return home as he highlighted the significance of respecting health instructions to prevent a second wave of the pandemic.
He asserted the border will open gradually.
Tunisia has recorded 1,128 confirmed coronaviruses cases. A total of 1,004 patients have recovered, reaching a rate of around 89 percent.
The country has recorded 50 deaths.
