Tunisia Reports Drop in COVID-19 Infections Amid High Inoculation Rates

Part of an intensive inoculation campaign in a school in Tunisia on September 11, 2021. (EPA)
Part of an intensive inoculation campaign in a school in Tunisia on September 11, 2021. (EPA)
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Tunisia Reports Drop in COVID-19 Infections Amid High Inoculation Rates

Part of an intensive inoculation campaign in a school in Tunisia on September 11, 2021. (EPA)
Part of an intensive inoculation campaign in a school in Tunisia on September 11, 2021. (EPA)

Tunisia did not record any new coronavirus-related deaths on October 11, for the first time in months as the country continues its vaccination drive, the health ministry announced on Wednesday.

The last few weeks saw a remarkable drop in death rates from COVID-19 complications compared with more than 250 daily fatalities in July and August.

Infections fell by an estimated 4.8 percent and did not exceed the limit of 230 new cases per day, the ministry added.

The total number of deaths recorded since the beginning of the pandemic is 25,046 and 682,953 recoveries.

The number of patients admitted to health institutions in the public and private sectors dropped to 689, including 13 new cases.

There are currently about 141 cases in intensive care units, while only 53 patients are on ventilators.

According to Riadh Daghfous, head of the scientific committee for the fight against the coronavirus, Tunisia is witnessing a gradual decline in COVID-related deaths thanks to the high rates of vaccination.

More than four million Tunisians have taken both shots, he affirmed, hoping they will reach five million by the end of October.

The ministry urged Tunisians, who haven’t gotten their jabs yet, to get vaccinated.



No Alternative to UNRWA in Gaza besides Israel, Agency Chief Says

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
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No Alternative to UNRWA in Gaza besides Israel, Agency Chief Says

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)

The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency's work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, its chief told reporters on Monday, repeating calls for countries to resist an Israeli ban on the organisation.

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, is in Geneva for a strategy meeting with donors after it was banned by Israel from operating there last month in what he said is one of the darkest moments in the agency's history, Reuters reported.

"I have drawn the attention of the member states that now the clock is ticking ... We have to stop or prevent the implementation of this bill," he told reporters, saying there is no alternative to the agency's services in Gaza besides allowing Israel to take them over.