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The North African nation recorded 9,823 coronavirus cases and 134 deaths on Tuesday, the most serious daily value of the virus.
Tunisia’s health care system has “fallen” under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health ministry said on Thursday, saying the impact the virus had on the country was “catastrophic”.
On Tuesday alone, Tunisia recorded 9,823 cases and 134 deaths, the most serious value the virus has had on a daily basis. Hospitals in the North African country have seen a significant influx of patients in the past two weeks.
The country of 12 million people has had nearly 465,000 cases and 15,735 deaths.
“We are in a catastrophic situation … The health system has collapsed, we can find bed with great difficulty in hospitals,” said Nisaf Ben Alaya, a spokesman for the ministry.
“We are struggling to supply oxygen … Doctors are suffering from unprecedented fatigue,” he said, adding that “the ship is sinking” and called on all Tunisians to join forces in their efforts to deal with the pandemic.
“The health situation will worsen if efforts are not combined,” he added.
Some of the bodies of COVID victims have been lying in rooms next to other patients for 24 hours because there are not enough staff to take them to the funeral homes that are too long.
The Ministry of Health’s Facebook page has said that the special rural hospitals created in recent months are no longer enough.
Since June 20, authorities have imposed a total blockade on six regions across Tunisia, including Kairouan, as the number of COVID cases has risen.
The capital Tunis has been under partial closure since last week, and has been holding weekend closures since July 10 to avoid crowds on the beaches.
Across Tunisia, only 4% of the population has received two full doses of vaccine.
Cases are proliferating in Africa
Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Africa since the third wave of the continent began in May.
In the week ending July 4, more than 251,000 new COVID-19 cases were registered on the continent, 20% more than the previous week and up 12% from the previous January peak.
Sixteen African countries are recovering from the virus with a more contagious Delta strain detected in 10 of them.
South Africa has been the worst country in Africa and new infections of the day hit a record 26,000 cases over the weekend, caused by the Delta variant.
Vaccination rates are slow with only 16 million people (2% of the African population) fully vaccinated.
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