Tunisia Reports Daily Coronavirus Record of 4,170 Cases

Almost empty streets in Sidi Bou Said, due to the national lockdown announced on Thursday. (EPA)
Almost empty streets in Sidi Bou Said, due to the national lockdown announced on Thursday. (EPA)
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Tunisia Reports Daily Coronavirus Record of 4,170 Cases

Almost empty streets in Sidi Bou Said, due to the national lockdown announced on Thursday. (EPA)
Almost empty streets in Sidi Bou Said, due to the national lockdown announced on Thursday. (EPA)

Tunisia has recorded 4,170 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 50 deaths, a record since the start of the pandemic, according to a Health Ministry statement on Friday.

The infection tally has risen to 165,065 cases, of which 123,610 have recovered, while the death toll amounted to 5,528.

One-hundred new people infected with COVID-19 have been treated in hospitals and private clinics, bringing the number of hospitalized patients to 1844 so far.

Tunisia on Thursday imposed a four-day national lockdown and closed schools until Jan. 24 to combat a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases.

In this context, former health minister Abdellatif Mekki suggested extending the lockdown for at least two more weeks to be able to flatten the curve.

According to statistics published by the Tunisian health structures, 27,445 cases and 685 deaths were recorded in only 12 days in January.

Health authorities expected the coming weeks to be very difficult, pointing out that the measures imposed so far have not given the desired results.

The scientific committee to fight the COVID-19 pandemic said deaths may exceed 6,500 with the end of January, which requires more vigilance and caution.

Adhering to preventive measures remains the most effective prevention solution pending the arrival of vaccines, it stressed.

In this regard, Respiratory Diseases Specialist Habib Ghedira said the epidemiological situation in the country requires targeting areas with the highest rate of infection cases.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”