WHO: Tunisia Over Worst of Covid Wave

Patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) receive treatment at the emergency department of Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) receive treatment at the emergency department of Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
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WHO: Tunisia Over Worst of Covid Wave

Patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) receive treatment at the emergency department of Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) receive treatment at the emergency department of Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui

Tunisia -- which has seen the world's worst Covid-19 death toll -- may be over the peak of the latest wave but the government must still speed up inoculations, the WHO said on Monday.

"The epidemiological data are going in the right direction," World Health Organization representative in Tunisia Yves Souteyrand told a press conference.

"We have the feeling that the peak of the epidemic may have passed."

But with vaccines in short supply, overwhelmed hospitals, shortages of oxygen and the highly contagious Delta variant rampaging through the country's 12 million population mean the risk of a health disaster remains, the WHO warned.

The Delta variant was responsible for "more than 90 percent" of cases, and the impact of family gatherings during a recent religious holiday was hard to evaluate but could set back progress made, Souteyrand said.

"The challenge is to speed up the vaccination campaign," he said.

The country had "in 10 days received around seven million vaccine doses and will receive perhaps two or three million more" soon, he said.

The WHO has also provided 400 oxygen concentrators and four oxygen generators to Tunisia, where the government has been in crisis after President Kais Saied suspended parliament and took direct power.

Since the shock move late last month, Saied has established a coronavirus crisis unit, supervised by a high-level military official, to help manage the country's outbreak.

Souteyrand said that "relations between the WHO and the health ministry have not been affected by the political crisis".

The health ministry on Monday announced the start of a mobile vaccination campaign in several regions.

Authorities have also announced a vaccination drive across the country on Sunday for Tunisians aged over 40.

Over the past seven days, the North African country has registered the worst official Covid-19 mortality rate in the world, with 10.64 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, an AFP tally based on officially reported data shows.

On the other hand, Tunisia shares its coronavirus data more transparently than many other countries, the WHO said.



Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
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Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)

US President Joe Biden welcomed the election of Joseph Aoun as Lebanon's president on Thursday, saying in a statement that the army chief was the “right leader” for the country.

“President Aoun has my confidence. I believe strongly he is the right leader for this time,” said Biden, adding that Aoun would provide “critical leadership” in overseeing an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.

Aoun's election by Lebanese lawmakers ended a more than two-year vacancy and could mark a step towards lifting the country out of financial meltdown.

“We finally have a president,” Biden said later, at the end of a meeting on the response to major wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles.

He said he had spoken to Aoun by phone on Thursday for “20 minutes to half an hour,” describing the Lebanese leader as a “first-rate guy.”

Biden pledged to continue US support for Lebanon’s security forces, and for Lebanon’s recovery and reconstruction, the White House said in a readout of Biden’s call with Aoun.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Aoun's election “a moment of historic opportunity,” which offered Lebanon a chance to “establish durable peace and stability.”

Aoun, who turned 61 on Friday, faces the difficult task of overseeing the fragile ceasefire with Israel in south Lebanon.

Separately, Biden spoke about the hostage talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“We’re making some real progress,” he told reporters at the White House, adding that he had spoken with US negotiators earlier Thursday.

“I know hope springs eternal, but I’m still hopeful that we’ll be able to have a prisoner exchange.”

Biden added: “Hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange right now, but I think we may be able to get that done. We need to get it done.”