Tunisia Reports More than 4,000 Deaths from COVID-19

Nurses clad in PPE tend to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital in the town of Gazes in Tunisia’s southwest. AFP file photo
Nurses clad in PPE tend to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital in the town of Gazes in Tunisia’s southwest. AFP file photo
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Tunisia Reports More than 4,000 Deaths from COVID-19

Nurses clad in PPE tend to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital in the town of Gazes in Tunisia’s southwest. AFP file photo
Nurses clad in PPE tend to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital in the town of Gazes in Tunisia’s southwest. AFP file photo

Tunisia’s total COVID-19 deaths exceeded 4,000 after the country recorded 35 new fatalities.

The Tunisian Health Ministry confirmed that the death toll rose to 4,032 on December 16.

It said 1,419 new coronavirus cases were recorded on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 115,966.

It said 1,315 patients with COVID-19 are being treated in Tunisian public hospitals and private clinics, and about 287 patients are in intensive care units, while 82 patients are on ventilators.

On the possibility of Tunisia witnessing a third wave of the pandemic, a specialist in infectious diseases ruled out such a scenario, saying the peak of infections was during the months of September and November.

But he expected higher levels of infections in March, pending the arrival of vaccines to the country.

He stressed the need to vaccinate at least 20 percent of Tunisians to ensure a decline in COVID-19 cases and to stop the rapid spread of the disease.

Speaking about the number of infections and deaths among the elderly in nursing homes in Tunisia, Minister of Women and Family Imen Zahouani said during a conference held Friday that the number of cases has reached 85, while six deaths were recorded among the elderly.

She revealed a set of preventive measures taken by the Ministry to protect such care facilities.



Lebanon's President Stresses Urgency of Israeli Pullout from South

This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 18, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 18, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
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Lebanon's President Stresses Urgency of Israeli Pullout from South

This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 18, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 18, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

Lebanon's new president Joseph Aoun stressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday the urgency of an Israeli military withdrawal as stipulated by a ceasefire deal that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war in November.
According to a statement by the Lebanese presidency on X, Aoun told Guterres during a meeting at Baabda Palace that continued Israeli breaches were a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and the agreed ceasefire deal.
The ceasefire, which took effect on Nov. 27 and was brokered by the United States and France, requires Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days, and for Hezbollah to remove all its fighters and weapons from the south.
Guterres said the UN would exert utmost efforts to secure an Israeli withdrawal within the set deadline under the ceasefire terms, according to the statement.
He had said on Friday the Israeli military's continued occupation of territory in south Lebanon and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory were violations of a UN resolution upon which the ceasefire is based.
Despite the deal, Israeli forces have continued strikes on what they say are Hezbollah fighters ignoring the accord under which they must halt attacks and withdraw beyond the Litani River, about 30 km from the border with Israel.