Dead Bodies And COVID-19 Patients Next Door, Tunisia Is Overwhelmed By The Pandemic

Illustration of COVID-19 in Tunisia. (Wikimedia Commons/Brahim Guedich)

JAKARTA - The Tunisian Ministry of Health announced that the country's health system is under great pressure, after cases of COVID-19 infection increased rapidly and rapidly, ICUs and doctors were overwhelmed with treating patients.

Tunisia recorded nearly 10,000 cases of the new coronavirus and 134 deaths on Wednesday, a daily record since the start of the pandemic, as fears the country cannot control the pandemic.

"We are in a disastrous situation, the health system is collapsing, we can only find beds in hospitals with great difficulty," ministry spokesman Nisaf Ben Alaya said.

"We are struggling to provide oxygen. Doctors are suffering from unprecedented exhaustion," he said, describing "the boat is sinking", calling on all Tunisians to unite in efforts to fight the pandemic.

After successfully containing the coronavirus in its first wave last year, Tunisia is grappling with an increase in infections. Lockdowns in a number of cities have been in place since last week, but rejected the national lockdown, due to the economic crisis.

According to Al Jazeera, some of the bodies of COVID-19 victims have been left lying in rooms next to other patients for up to 24 hours, as there are not enough staff to arrange for their transfer to the oversized morgue.

Meanwhile, the Facebook account of the Tunisian Ministry of Health said the special field hospitals that were set up in recent months were no longer enough.

Launching Worldometers Friday, July 9, Tunisia has so far recorded a total of 473,229 cases of COVID-19 infection with 15,861 deaths, and 375,756 patients who recovered.

Regarding vaccination, only about four percent of the total eligible Tunisian population have received two full doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.