Libyan National Army (LNA) leader Khalifa Haftar called on the World Health Organization to support his country with equipment to fight the coronavirus as infections spread in the North African country.
Libya has recorded 395 new cases of emerging coronavirus infection out of 2,607 samples tested in the last 24 hours, the National Centre for Disease Control announced on Thursday.
The LNA general command announced that Haftar had received WHO Representative in Libya Elizabeth Hoff at the LNA headquarters in al-Jamra on Wednesday. The two discussed WHO operations in Libya and its support for the health sector, especially with regard to providing equipment to detect the virus.
Despite WHO efforts in Libya, the coronavirus is spreading at a staggeringly high daily rate among the population. Tripoli ranked first with the number of infections on Thursday with 123 new detected cases, followed by the western Yefren city with 73 cases. Benghazi ranked third with 71 new infections.
The total number of COVID-19 infections rose to 9,463 cases with 1,018 recoveries and 169 deaths.
The southern Kufra district issued five public recommendations aiming to stem the spread of the virus. They included cancelling all social gathering events, limiting travel between cities, and wearing face masks. The district called for punishing violators.
The US embassy in Libya said that USAID supports the International Medical Corps to increase accesses to health services for families displaced by the long-term conflict in Libya.
The embassy, in a statement, said that doctors, nurses and mental health consultants of the International Medical Corps, a non-profit organization, provide basic medical care and psychological and social support to help families deal with stress and trauma in health facilities serving displaced communities.
