The Tunisian government on Wednesday announced it will begin relaxing the coronavirus lockdown starting May 4, reported Reuters. The measures would include reopening parts of the food and construction sectors and allowing half of the government employees to return to work.
In a televised interview, the Tunisian Health Minister Abdelatif el-Makki said the lockdown, in place since March, has stopped 25,000 cases of the virus and 1,000 deaths in the country. Tunisia, which has about 500 intensive care beds, has confirmed fewer than 1,000 cases in total.
“Tunisia has controlled the first wave of the pandemic, but we do not know about a possible second wave,” he said.
During the same television broadcast, Lobna Jribi, the minister in charge of major projects, said easing the lockdown measures after May 11 will include clothing shops and malls. She added that public transport will partially reopen from May 4.
“The plan is we can open the economy gradually, but still control the pandemic,” Jribi said.
The lockdown has badly affected Tunisia’s economic health. According to the International Monetary Fund, the country’s economy is expected to shrink by 4.3% this year because of the crisis.
On Wednesday night, the Tunisian Ministry of Health reported five new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the infected to 980 in the country.
“Following a total of 585 lab tests, 47 cases tested positive, of which five were new cases and 42 were previously confirmed cases who were still infected with this virus,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, there have been 294 recoveries in Tunisia so far, while the death toll stands at 40.
The statement said that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients reached 92, including 20 patients in intensive care units. As per official figures, 22,062 lab tests have been carried out in total since March 2, the date of the first COVID-19 case in Tunisia.
