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.



Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)

A notorious desert refugee camp in Syria has closed after the last remaining families returned to their areas of origin, Syrian authorities said on Saturday.

The Rukban camp in Syria's desert was established in 2014, at the height of Syria's civil war, in a de-confliction zone controlled by the US-led coalition fighting the ISIS group, near the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Desperate people fleeing ISIS extremists and former government bombardment sought refuge there, hoping to cross into Jordan.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government rarely allowed aid to enter the camp and neighboring countries closed their borders to the area, isolating Rukban for years.

After an opposition offensive toppled Assad in December, families started leaving the camp to return home.

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based organization, said on Friday that the camp was "officially closed and empty, all families and residents have returned to their homes".

Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X on Saturday that "with the dismantlement of the Rukban camp and the return of the displaced, a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine comes to a close".

"Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," he added.

At its peak, the camp housed more than 100,000 people. Around 8,000 people still lived there before Assad's fall, residing in mud-brick houses, with food and basic supplies smuggled in at high prices.

Syrian minister for emergency situations and disasters Raed al-Saleh said on X said the camp's closure represents "the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people".

"We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety," he added.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since Assad's fall, after they were displaced within the country or abroad.

The IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge" for those returning home.