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ICU Beds in Tunisia Nearing Full Capacity

People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020. Reuters
People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020. Reuters
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ICU Beds in Tunisia Nearing Full Capacity

People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020. Reuters
People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020. Reuters

Tunisian Health Minister Fawzi al-Mahdi warned that intensive care unit (ICU) beds have reached 80 percent capacity as the coronavirus pandemic continues its rapid spread.

Tunisia has just 181 ICU beds, of which 145 are now being used by patients, Mahdi told reporters.

Director of the Pasteur Institute Hashemi Al-Wazir has revealed 30 deaths and 800 hospitalized cases.

A total of 180 out of the 800 patients have low oxygen levels, while 60-70 patients are in the ICU and require artificial ventilation.

Regarding the age category of fatalities, Hashemi said that 50 percent of them were above 70.

Director of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases Nissaf Ben Alaya stressed that the situation in Tunisia is delicate and the country is still in a dangerous phase.

Speaking about the potential repercussions of the measures taken by the government, Ben Alaya noted that the consequences can’t be evaluated for now.

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Türkiye Criticizes Some NATO Countries’ Support for Kurdish Units in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavsky, in Ankara on Tuesday (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavsky, in Ankara on Tuesday (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
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Türkiye Criticizes Some NATO Countries’ Support for Kurdish Units in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavsky, in Ankara on Tuesday (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavsky, in Ankara on Tuesday (Turkish Foreign Ministry)

Türkiye criticized the support provided by some of its allies in NATO to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

 

“The countries we have problems with... are America, England, and a little bit with France,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a televised interview on Monday.

 

He added: “The United States maintains its presence there, and we are putting this problem on the agenda at all levels... Türkiye is continuing the highest level of diplomacy possible” as “it can no longer live with such a reality.”

 

The foreign minister went on to say: “We carry more sensitivity in our fight against the PKK than you (the US and the UK) do in your fight against terrorism, just on the other side of our border. It is out of the question for us to engage in any negotiations here.”

 

On the other hand, Fidan considered that stopping the armed conflict between the Syrian army and the opposition is currently the main “achievement” of his country and Russia.

 

“The most important thing that we were able to achieve in Syria along with the Russians is that there is no war currently between the army and the opposition, and the Astana negotiations and others made that possible at the present time,” he stated.

He added that Damascus needs to “use this period of calm wisely, as an opportunity to return millions of Syrians who have fled abroad to rebuild their country and revive its economy.”

 

The minister revealed that he discussed this matter during his recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

 

“We are studying this matter. The return of refugees is important,” Fidan said, adding: “We want the Syrian government to exploit this period of calm, rationally... as an opportunity to solve constitutional problems and achieve peace with the opposition. But we do not see that Damascus is benefiting from this sufficiently.”