Tunisia’s Coronavirus Cases Pass the 5,000 Mark

Tourists walk, one of them wearing a protective face mask, in the Old City of Tunis. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Tourists walk, one of them wearing a protective face mask, in the Old City of Tunis. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
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Tunisia’s Coronavirus Cases Pass the 5,000 Mark

Tourists walk, one of them wearing a protective face mask, in the Old City of Tunis. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Tourists walk, one of them wearing a protective face mask, in the Old City of Tunis. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

The total number of people infected with the coronavirus in Tunisia passed the 5,400 mark since the COVID-19 disease was discovered in the country on March 2, Director of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases Nissaf Ben Alaya said.

She pointed out that around 265 health workers had been infected, while the death toll almost doubled from 50 to 96 cases following the reopening of the Tunisian border on June 27.

Ben Alaya noted that around 293 people tested positive on September 7, bringing the number of active cases in Tunisia to 3,459. A total of 86 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized, including 26 in intensive care units.

Since the border’s reopening, 4,216 infections have been reported, including 587 imported cases, 3,584 domestic (85 percent) and 46 deaths (1 percent).

Jalila Ben Khalil, a member of the Standing Committee for the fight against the coronavirus, raised the red flag on the pandemic.

Othman al-Jallouli, general secretary of the General University of Health, also urged the Tunisian government to refrain from declaring victory over the disease.

He called for allotting more funds to the fight against the pandemic.



Over 50,000 Have Fled Lebanon for Syria Amid Israeli Strikes, Says UN

Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
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Over 50,000 Have Fled Lebanon for Syria Amid Israeli Strikes, Says UN

Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo

The UN refugee chief said Saturday that more than 50,000 people had fled to Syria amid escalating Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.

"More than 50,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Lebanon have now crossed into Syria fleeing Israeli air strikes," Filippo Grandi said on X.

He added that "well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon".

A UNHCR spokesman said the total number of displaced in Lebanon had reached 211,319, including 118,000 just since Israel dramatically ramped up its air strikes on Monday, AFP reported.

The remainder had fled their homes since Hezbollah militants in Lebanon began low-intensity cross-border attacks a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel has shifted the focus of its operation from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 700 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry, as cross-border exchanges escalated over the past week.

Most of those Lebanese deaths came on Monday, the deadliest day of violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

"Relief operations are underway, including by UNHCR, to help all those in need, in coordination with both governments," Grandi said.