Tunisia imposes nighttime curfew in efforts to curb COVID-19 spread

FILE PHOTO: Passengers are scanned as they pass through an airport. /VCG Image

The Tunisian government on Thursday imposed a nationwide night-time curfew, banned inter-region travel and also closed schools in efforts to curb further spread of COVID-19.

AFP reports Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi to have called on "all governorates to declare a curfew" from 8:00 pm until 5:00 am on weekdays and starting one hour earlier on weekends.

The move comes following an increase in daily new infections, overwhelming the North African country's health care system.

A report by the World Health Organization on Wednesday showed that Tunisia had reported 9,863 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the prior seven days, one of Africa's highest tally in the same period.

In the same period, Tunisia registered 251 deaths.

Cumulatively, the North African country has reported 54,278 infections and 1,153 fatalities.

The caseload is the eighth-highest in Africa, as the country is one of only nine countries that have recorded more than 50,000 COVID-19 cases.