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Tunisia Reports Two COVID-19 Variant Cases

People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020.REUTERS/Angus McDowall/File Photo
People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020.REUTERS/Angus McDowall/File Photo
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Tunisia Reports Two COVID-19 Variant Cases

People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020.REUTERS/Angus McDowall/File Photo
People wait to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a mobile testing lab in Tunis, Tunisia October 7, 2020.REUTERS/Angus McDowall/File Photo

Tunisian health officials announced that two people have been tested positive for a new variant of COVID-19 in the governorate of Tunis.

Recent medical reports revealed that the new variants of the virus, discovered in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil, are highly transmissible compared to the Chinese strain.

Director of the Pasteur Institute Hashemi al-Wazir affirmed that the two new cases were discovered by coincidence after a number of tests were conducted.

Wazir said that the first case is asymptomatic while the second is a senior suffering from critical illness and has passed away.

The Tunisian authorities will intensify research and analysis to know more about this new variant.

Head of the Health and Social Committee in the Tunisian Parliament Dr. Sohail Alouni said that the current laboratory tests in the country are incapable of detecting the recently discovered variants.

He noted that the Health Ministry will import new type of tests to serve this purpose.

Tunisian Health Ministry on Saturday reported 903 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 227,643.

On the same day, 36 deaths were recorded, bringing the toll to 7,755.

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Palestinian Families in Tents Endure Harsh Conditions on Gaza’s Windswept Coast

Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Palestinian Families in Tents Endure Harsh Conditions on Gaza’s Windswept Coast

Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Displaced Palestinian families living in makeshift tent camps along the desolate beach in Deir al-Balah say there's no way to stay warm as winter hits the Gaza Strip.
Wind from the sea whips through shelters of torn tarps and bedsheets, held together with rope and wooden frames. They offer little insulation to Muhammad al-Sous, his wife and their five kids. Their tent is right on the beach beside a sandy bluff, just meters (yards) from the waves, and he says high seas washed away most of their belongings, The Associated Press said.
“These children, I swear to God, their mother and I cover ourselves with one blanket and we cover them with three blankets that we got from neighbors,” he said. The kids collect plastic bottles to burn for warmth in front of their tent.
“Everyone has nothing but what they are wearing. When my wife bathes them, she washes their clothes and hangs them up to dry while they stay here under the covers until their clothes are dry,” said al-Sous, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya.
At least three babies died from the cold this week while sleeping in tents, according to doctors at Nasser Hospital. A nurse who worked at the European Hospital also died of exposure in a tent. Overnight temperatures have dipped as low as 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) in the territory.
Meanwhile, Atta al-Hassoumi, another man displaced from Beit Lahiya along with eight family members, said they pray for mild weather without rain or storms.
“We are shivering from the cold and from the situation that we are in. ... I'm unable to work or do anything in war, and I am unable to do anything for them,” he said.