Photo: John S. on Flickr
Pharmacists call for “fiscal tolerance”
[…] The 10,986 dispensing pharmacists working throughout the country questioned the Prime Minister about their “extremely vulnerable” financial situation. In a long letter addressed to the Prime Minister with a copy to the President of the Republic, these drug professionals launched a real SOS. The questioning of the pharmacists in fact came after having waited in vain for “an invitation” to an intersectoral consultation on the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in application of the instructions of the Head of State.They thus formulated a number of proposals to mitigate the effects induced by the measures taken by the State to prevent and control the coronavirus. “We have made proposals to enable pharmacists, who are heavily involved in the fight against corona, and several national solidarity actions, to continue to play their role within the health system”. In fact, they expect a “strong gesture” from the public authorities.
[…] dispensing pharmacists are calling for exceptional tax tolerance. “A 10-point reduction. A tax rate of 1.10 instead of the current rate of 1.20”. “This tax tolerance must also include the elimination of the G50 from February 2020 until the end of the current crisis”.For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
Turkey reopens its visa service in Algeria
The Turkish embassy in Algeria announced on Monday the resumption of visa issuing services. “We would like to announce once again and with great pleasure that we have started to receive visa applications while respecting health measures, following the authorization and instruction of the Turkish Embassy in Algeria from June 1, 2020 in the hope of a forthcoming reopening of our borders,” the embassy said in a statement.
Turkey has thus become the first foreign country to reopen its visa issuing service in Algeria, after several months of suspension due to the containment imposed by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
However, this resumption was accompanied by a controversy around Gateway, the company that receives visa files, about travel insurance. Algerian insurers complained to the Ministry of Finance about Gateway’s decision to offer visa applicants a travel insurance policy drawn up on its premises and for the benefit of an insurance company based in Turkey. For them, this is illegal.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
COVID-19 management – pressure on Oran University Hospital lessens
After almost three months of uninterrupted and assiduous mobilisation at the CHU of Oran which takes care of about 60% of COVID-19 cases in the wilaya, the pressure has fallen at the CHUO and the establishment is starting to resume its usual pace of activities, assured its director, Hadj Boutouaf.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
What you need to know about progressive deconfinement
If there were only two words to sum up Algeria’s exit strategy from containment, they would be “flexible” and “progressive”. The plan presented by Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad authorises, under certain conditions, the resumption of certain commercial activities, but excludes from the outset a return to normality. “The measures to get out of the confinement should in no way mean a return to normal life, but on the contrary encourage prudence and vigilance because the threat of the epidemic remains omnipresent,” the 4 June communiqué said.
[…] The Minister of Health, Abderrahmane Benbouzid, judged on June 6 that the epidemic was still too active in 10 wilayas, each with more than 290 active cases. Apart from Ouargla (south), all are in the north of the country (Tlemcen, Oran, Ain Defla, Tipaza, Blida, Algiers, Bejaïa, Setif and Constantine). […] The lifting of the containment is done in two stages, by assessing the socio-economic impact of the activities authorised to resume, and the risk of transmission of COVID-19 linked to each of them.The first phase, which began on 7 June, authorises the resumption of 25 types of businesses and services, such as crafts, flower shops, hygiene products, cultural goods, the sale of take-away food and livestock markets.
As of 14 June, other activities may be resumed, such as catering, the sale of alcohol and taxi transport. This second list has not yet been officially drawn up. “The organization will be clarified in due course,” the government says.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
