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UNICEF Alarmed by the Quick Spread of COVID-19 in Libya

Tripoli’s Mitiga airport received last Monday 500,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines (National Center for Disease Control)
Tripoli’s Mitiga airport received last Monday 500,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines (National Center for Disease Control)
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UNICEF Alarmed by the Quick Spread of COVID-19 in Libya

Tripoli’s Mitiga airport received last Monday 500,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines (National Center for Disease Control)
Tripoli’s Mitiga airport received last Monday 500,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines (National Center for Disease Control)

UNICEF expressed concern Tuesday over the rapid spread of the COVID-19 in Libya amid calls by Health Minister Ali Al-Zanati for the country’s 2021 budget to support efforts to confront the pandemic.

Libya reported 1,781 new daily cases of coronavirus in addition to 10 deaths in the past 24 hours. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the African country has reported 226,000 COVID-19 cases.

On Tuesday, UNICEF said Libya is witnessing an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases in the last 2 weeks where infections are at their peak.

“The National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) recorded 6,061 new COVID cases on the 18th of July, the highest daily rate since the onset of the pandemic,” the UN agency wrote in a statement.

It said the virus is rapidly spreading across the country with a 270% increase in COVID-19 cases in the West, 480% in the South, and 50% in the East of the country.

AbdulKadir Musse, UNICEF Special Representative in Libya said: “We are alarmed at the rapid spread of the virus in the country. The vaccination rate is very low, and the spread is fast. We must be faster in our response.”

Musse also stressed that “the most important thing we can do to stop the spread of COVID-19, and the variants, is to ensure that everyone eligible will get vaccinated.”

In addition, he strongly urged all the people in Libya to wear masks, maintain physical distancing and wash hands frequently.

UNICEF said it is supporting the authorities and scaling up COVID-19 response, including supporting the rollout of national COVID-19 vaccination.

So far, UNICEF has delivered three batches of COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX Facility. The vaccines are distributed to vaccination centers throughout the country in coordination with the national health authorities in Libya.

On Monday, Libya received a batch of 500,000 doses of Sputnik V anti-Coronavirus vaccines, the Health Ministry reported.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.