Libya Reports More than 1,000 Virus Cases in 24 Hours

Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)
Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)
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Libya Reports More than 1,000 Virus Cases in 24 Hours

Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)
Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)

Libya’s National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) recorded on Tuesday 1,031 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.

These include 769 new cases and 262 who were in contact with infected people, raising the tally to 38,468, 2,410 recoveries and 602 deaths.

The cases were distributed among 40 cities and municipalities across the country, with 520 cases in Tripoli alone, 45 in the western city of Zawiya and 35 in the eastern city of Benghazi.

The Center urged Libyans to follow all the precautionary measures and avoid gatherings in social events and malls.

Separately, the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Supreme Committee to Combat the Coronavirus Epidemic (SCCCE) has allowed the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments to reopen mosques, urging them to take all the necessary preventive measures.

The GNA’s Health Ministry announced on Tuesday the establishment of a “medical tent” to sort out visitors to Tripoli University Hospital before allowing them to enter.

According to a ministry statement, stages through which patients pass differ according to their symptoms, adding that the number of daily visitors will be limited to 1,000 to 1,500.

These stages begin by taking the body temperature, heart rate, oxygen rate and vital functions and end with isolating those tested positive for COVID-19.



Bodies of Migrants Recovered in Southeast Libya, Attorney General Says

Reuters file photo showing volunteers placing bodies in black plastic bags in Libya
Reuters file photo showing volunteers placing bodies in black plastic bags in Libya
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Bodies of Migrants Recovered in Southeast Libya, Attorney General Says

Reuters file photo showing volunteers placing bodies in black plastic bags in Libya
Reuters file photo showing volunteers placing bodies in black plastic bags in Libya

Libya's security authorities recovered at least 28 bodies of migrants from a mass grave in the desert in southeast Libya, the country's attorney general said on its Facebook page on Sunday.

The bodies were found north of Kufra city, the attorney general said, while 76 migrants were freed "from forced detention."

Kufra is about 1,712 kilometres (1,064 miles) from the capital Tripoli.

On Thursday, the Alwahat security directorate in the southeast of the country recovered 19 bodies from a mass grave in Jikharra area, and the Libyan Red Crescent recovered 10 bodies of migrants off Dila port in Zawiya city in the west after their boat sank, Reuters reported.

Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via the dangerous route across the desert and over the Mediterranean following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

"There was a gang whose members deliberately deprived illegal migrants of their freedom, tortured them and subjected them to cruel, humiliating and inhumane treatment," the attorney general said on its verified Facebook page.

It said that the authorities have begun conducting forensic tests to understand "the cause of their deaths."

The authorities have started documenting the testimonies of the survivors and have detained three suspects: a Libyan national and two foreigners, it added.