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COVID-19 Deaths Rise in Tunisia

Tunisians working in the tourism industry receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine on June 4, 2021 in Tunis. AFP
Tunisians working in the tourism industry receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine on June 4, 2021 in Tunis. AFP
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COVID-19 Deaths Rise in Tunisia

Tunisians working in the tourism industry receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine on June 4, 2021 in Tunis. AFP
Tunisians working in the tourism industry receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine on June 4, 2021 in Tunis. AFP

The increasing number of COVID-19-related deaths in Tunisia triggered Thursday widespread concerns as officials warned the epidemiological situation could further deteriorate in the country.

The Health Ministry said Tunisia recorded 103 fatalities on June 8, taking the death toll to 13,229.

The Ministry said further 2,102 infections were reported from 8,109 tests (a positivity rate of 25.92%), pushing the infection caseload to 360,285.

It added that 1,274 more recoveries were recorded, taking the overall count to 316,004.

Ministry of Health spokeswoman Nissaf Ben Alaya confirmed on Thursday reports that the epidemiological alert reached very high levels in 21 out of 24 districts.

Ben Alaya stressed the need to abide by precautionary and preventive measures to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Authorities in Tunisia decided to extend COVID-19 restrictions by keeping in place a nightly curfew from 10 pm till 5 am through June 27.

It also kept health protocols for passengers entering or transiting through Tunisia. They must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test result issued at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point.

Also, health protocols in cafes and restaurants will be maintained with capacity restrictions of 30% indoors and 50% outdoors.

Tunisia announced that 1,252,125 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered since the start of the inoculation campaign on March 13.

The Health Ministry said 28,562 vaccines were administered on June 9, while 2,339,290 people have so far registered on the national vaccination platform Evax.tn.

The government plans to vaccinate half of the country's population – 5.5 million people – by the end of the year.

This week, the Tunisian government announced an agreement with the WHO for Tunis to receive 100,000 new vaccine doses by the end of July and another 500,000 in the coming months.

Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said the country has received only 1.6 million jabs of the 2.5 million hoped for by March via the WHO-led COVAX initiative.

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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.