Tunis/Tunisia — “A 7-day general lockdown has been decreed from May 9 on midnight to May 16, 2021,” announced Friday Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi during a press conference held at the Kasbah.
Mechichi announced that this decision as well as other measures had been taken by the National Committee to Combat the Coronavirus to preserve the health of Tunisians and stem the spread of the pandemic, especially during this period characterised by an increase in the number of infections and deaths, pointing out that only 20% of Tunisians respect the mandatory mask wearing.
Listing the new measures applicable from May 9 to 16, 2021, Spokesperson for the government Hasna Ben Slimane said it had been decided to impose a curfew from 7 pm to 5 am, to ban inter-city travel except for urgent cases, to suspend cultural and sporting events and gatherings, to close places of worship and all daily and weekly markets, supermarkets and to keep open only those shops that sell basic food products.
All preventive measures and mandatory quarantine of persons arriving from abroad will be maintained, and the control of the enforcement of preventive measures will be tightened by sanctioning all offenders.
Besides, the Prime Minister called on Tunisians to register on the national vaccination platform Evax.tn, pointing out that Tunisia has always been a model to follow in vaccination drives.
He added “doctors are on the verge of depression and the health system is risking collapse.”
Mechichi stated that nearly one hundred people die daily from the Coronavirus as a result of non-compliance with the health measures imposed by the State.
“Coronavirus is not only numbers but rather stories of suffering, entire families are in the ICUs,” he regretted, pointing out that the reinforcement of measures is only one more attempt to fight the spread of the pandemic and save the Tunisian health system from collapse.