Tunisia becomes the African country most affected by the pandemic

Tunisian Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi sacked amid rising pandemic cases

photo_camera AFP/FETHI BELAID - A wheelchair-bound elderly woman receives a dose of COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine in Tunisia.

With the highest mortality rate on the continent, according to the World Health Organisation. The Tunisian head of government, Hichem Mechichi, dismissed the health minister, Faouzi Mahdi, who had been in office since last August and who had become the fourth person to hold this portfolio since the start of the pandemic, his office announced in a brief statement, without explaining the reasons for the dismissal, while the government is already weakened by internal tensions. 

Mahdi will be replaced by the current acting social affairs minister, Mohamed Trabelsi, who will become acting health minister, in a government already weakened by the departure of many ministers without replacement after a reshuffle that remained unfinished. Mahdi decided to launch two open days for all Tunisians over the age of 18 to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but did not devise any measures to supervise people presenting themselves for the immuniser or protect them from the risk of contracting COVID-19 in the crowds outside health centres, La Presse newspaper reported. This opening led to a rush into the 29 vaccination centres concerned, causing scenes of jostling and frustration as the available doses were quickly exhausted.

Covid-19 casos y muertes registradas oficialmente en Túnez hasta el 12 de julio AFP/AFP

Tunisia has recorded between 150 and 200 deaths per day since the end of June and reported a record 205 deaths in a single day in the last few days. According to official figures, the country has reached 549,000 infections and 17,644 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Since the beginning of June, 21 of the 24 departments have been under total containment, a measure ruled out at the national level by the central government, which justified it on the grounds of the social and economic repercussions. Instead, it extended until 31 July the curfew - imposed between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. -, the ban on inter-provincial travel, social celebrations and sporting and religious events. Meanwhile, oxygen is beginning to run seriously low in some areas, such as Mateur, in the north of the country, where supplies are scarce. Daily oxygen consumption has even reached 5,500 litres per day, compared to 400-500 previously.

Following the launch of the vaccination campaign in mid-March, some 2.3 million citizens have received at least one dose and just over 910,000 have the full regimen. Despite awareness-raising efforts, only 3.6 million people have registered on the EVAX digital platform to be vaccinated voluntarily and free of charge. Faced with this situation, the previous Executive launched an appeal for international aid, which was joined by some 15 countries such as Spain, France, Italy, Morocco and China with donations of more than 3.5 million vaccines, as well as medical supplies.

Un trabajador sanitario tunecino se prepara para recibir a las personas para la vacunación contra la enfermedad del coronavirus (COVID-19), en Túnez REUTERS/ZOUBEIR SOUISSI

 The new wave of COVID is sweeping Tunisia. Cases are on the rise, more and more patients are hospitalised, but resources to treat them are running out. The country's structures are facing an oxygen and blood emergency. The African country has experienced a record explosion in the COVID-19 epidemic over the past two weeks. With a still very limited vaccination campaign, a shortage of doses and non-compliance with physical distancing rules, the infection rate has skyrocketed and the number of deaths is rising every day. Despite recent government decisions to confine certain regions and extend the curfew, the country is sinking into an unprecedented health crisis. Hospitals are already overflowing, on the verge of saturation, and patients continue to arrive every day.

The country's endemic corruption, political paralysis and financial crisis comes at a time when the COVID-19 crisis is weakening an already battered economy. The pandemic has further worsened this set of conditions, while many Tunisians are increasingly jaded by the government's management of poor public services and a political class that has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to govern coherently. 

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