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.



Canada Says It Will Provide C$10 Million in Aid to Lebanese Civilians

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures as he speaks to the media on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, in New York, US, September 24, 2024.  REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures as he speaks to the media on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, in New York, US, September 24, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
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Canada Says It Will Provide C$10 Million in Aid to Lebanese Civilians

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures as he speaks to the media on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, in New York, US, September 24, 2024.  REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures as he speaks to the media on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, in New York, US, September 24, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

Canada is deeply concerned by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and will provide C$10 million ($7.4 million) for humanitarian assistance to civilians in Lebanon, the Canadian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
"Canada urges all parties involved in the conflict to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, from harm," the foreign ministry said in a statement in which it reiterated a call for a 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed 33 people and wounded 195 others on Saturday, including Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The strikes continued on Beirut's southern suburbs throughout the early evening on Saturday, according to a Reuters live broadcast, sending large clouds of smoke over the city.
One Israeli strike hit an industrial area 500 meters (yards) from Beirut airport buildings, a security source told Reuters. The airport continued to operate normally, according to Middle East Airlines boss Mohammad al-Hout.
More than 1,000 people have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks in the past two weeks, the health ministry said, and about one million Lebanese have been displaced by the strikes, including hundreds of thousands since Friday, Nasser Yassin, the minister coordinating the government's crisis response, told Reuters on Saturday.