Libya's Tripoli govt declares emergency, shuts down ports, airports

A police officer is seen at the security gate after the reopening of Mitiga Airport in Tripoli, Libya, on December 12, 2019. /Reuters

Libya's Tripoli-based Government of National Accord has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus and will close all air and sea ports from Monday, Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj said on Saturday.

Serraj also said, in a broadcast address, that his internationally recognized government had earmarked 500 million Libyan dinars ($360.54 million) to combat the disease if it reached Libya, though no cases had been confirmed so far.

Libya, split for years between rival governments that have been fighting a war for nearly a year, lacks adequate isolation and other facilities to combat the virus, the head of its disease control centre told Reuters on Thursday.

Source(s): Reuters