Tunisia Records Highest Covid Deaths in Two Months

Medical staff members work at a department for patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), inside Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. Picture taken July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Medical staff members work at a department for patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), inside Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. Picture taken July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
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Tunisia Records Highest Covid Deaths in Two Months

Medical staff members work at a department for patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), inside Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. Picture taken July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Medical staff members work at a department for patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), inside Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia July 13, 2021. Picture taken July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui

Tunisia reported the highest number of Covid deaths in two months, reporting 20 new deaths in the last 24 hours.

The death toll reached 26,271, the Health Ministry said, adding that the total number of hospitalized cases reached 1,042. According to the ministry, 191 patients are in intensive care and 52 under life support.

Night curfew has been effective in Tunisia since Jan. 13 to counter the rapid spread of the omicron variant.

Deaths spiked in the past few weeks from 3-4 cases per day to more than 13 deaths daily.

Moez Hammami, a specialist in quantitative risk assessment, expected Tunisia to record up to 40 death cases per day, noting that the country is currently witnessing its sixth wave.

Hammami further said that the next ten days will represent the peak in critical and death cases.



Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 11 Dead

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 11 Dead

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Powerful Israeli airstrikes targeted central Beirut on Saturday, resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroying an eight-story building, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Footage broadcast by TV stations showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it in the Basta neighborhood.

At least 11 people were killed and dozens injured. Lebanon's civil defense said the death toll was provisional as emergency responders were still digging through the rubble looking for survivors. 

Israel used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, said NNA. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives hours after the attack.
The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m.

NNA said at least five bombs were dropped in the attack.
It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel's attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.

On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

The Israeli military did not issue a warning for Basta's residents to evacuate prior to the strike and did not immediately issue a statement on it.

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants was ongoing in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops have pushed farther from the border.