Tunisia grapples with COVID-19

The coronavirus crisis continues to worsen in Tunisia, with the number of infections rising. Cases of the particularly infectious delta variant have also been registered, and some regions have been sealed off. By Diana Hodali

  • Hospital scene, masked person in white protective suit approaches a bed with a patient, more beds lined up in the background (photo: Jdidi Wassim/SOPA Images/picture-alliance)
    Infections on the rise: in late June, between 3,500 and 4,000 new infections were reported in Tunisia every day. Former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi also contracted the virus in a country with little testing and where many hospitals are overwhelmed by the many COVID-19 patients.
  • Street with closed shops, empty but for one man on a motorcycle and a pedestrian (photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)
    Curfews and lockdowns: A night-time curfew has been in place nationwide since October 2020. Depending on the incidence rate, the government has also imposed lockdowns for cities and regions, sealing them off from the outside world, like in the north-eastern city of Manouba (pictured here). Beja, Silyana, Zaghouan and Kairouan are reporting the highest incidence rates in the country.
  • Person wearing a white lab coat and a green surgical cap watches some people walk among square white buildings, one with a large graffiti of a face with a mask (photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)
    Lockdown in Kairouan: Kairouan is located about 150 kilometres south-west of the capital, Tunis. With well over 400 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, the city of about 120,000 inhabitants had one of the country's highest infection rates at the end of June. The square in front of the mosque is normally crowded and bustling with activity. But Kairouan is currently sealed off and looks more like a ghost town.
  • Two ambulances parked in front of two tents, building to the left, barbed wire to the right (photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)
    Ambulances everywhere: Only a few street vendors and stores selling necessary goods remain open. Ambulances are omnipresent, transporting COVID-19 patients to various hospitals in Kairouan.
  • Person in a white protective suit looks at a patient in a bed in a makeshift cubicle, cart with medical appliances in the foreground (photo: photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)
    Makeshift COVID-19 wards: Kairouan has grappled with high infection levels for weeks. The hospitals in the city have been overwhelmed, and special COVID-19 wards were not readily available everywhere. In the meantime, such units have been set up to make sure coronavirus patients are kept far away from regular patients.
  • Person in a white protective suit, surgical cap and face mask looks at a patient in a bed in front of a rough pale blue wall (photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)
    Shortage of staff: Doctors and members of the already scarce nursing staff have also become infected with the virus. Some patients have to be supplied with oxygen until a hospital bed can be found for them in another city.
  • Men in a graveyard in the dark, one holding the lid of a coffin (photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)
    Death rate up: At the end of June, 8 to 10 people died of COVID-19 every day in Kairouan. According to official figures, almost 15,000 people have died in Tunisia since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • Seven people in protective suits, caps and masks sit around a table (photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)
    Delta variant spreads: Doctors and nurses are working round the clock. The Health Ministry, which is urging the population to comply with coronavirus measures, said that by the end of June, 18 people had contracted the more contagious COVID-19 delta variant.
  • People sitting on chairs and wearing face masks, a woman in the foreground in being vaccinated by another woman (photo: Adel Ezzine/Xinhua News Agency/picture-alliance)
    Slow vaccination campaign: The vaccination campaign in Tunisia is making slow progress. By the end of June, fewer than 1.8 million had been vaccinated in Tunisia, which has a population of approximately 11.5 million; only about 500,000 of them had received full vaccination protection, according to the Tunisian Health Ministry. It looks doubtful, however, that the country will manage to vaccinate half the population this year as planned.