The Tunisian authorities have decided to reinstate from Thursday a night curfew in greater Tunis for 15 days, in an attempt to limit the outbreak of contamination from the Covid-19 epidemic, the governor of Tunis told AFP. .
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Greater Tunis is a major geographic hub that includes four governorates: Tunis, Ben Arous, Ariana and Manouba, with more than 1.3 million inhabitants, almost 10% of the Tunisian population, according to the latest official statistics from 2014. For 15 days traffic will be prohibited from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on weekdays and from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on weekends, said Tunis governor Chedly Bouallègue.
According to the same source, the weekly souks in the greater Tunis will be closed, and the Friday prayer suspended during these 15 days.
This decision was taken following the considerable increase in the number of patients in the last week during which this virus affected more than 1,000 cases per day, according to official statistics from the Tunisian Ministry of Health.
A curfew was already reinstated on October 1 in the coastal regions of Sousse and Monastir.
364 deaths
Calls to take stricter preventive measures are multiplying more and more on social networks and health professionals have sounded the alarm, while the number of people in intensive care has reached 124. Since the beginning of March the Tunisia has recorded 24,542 cases of Covid-19 including 364 deaths.
The majority of cases were identified after the opening of the borders on June 27.
As soon as the first contaminations appeared in March, the authorities took strict measures imposing in particular a national curfew, compulsory general containment and the closure of borders.
On many occasions, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has ruled out a return to general containment of the whole country.
