Photo: John S. on Flickr
June 09, 2020: Japanese donation of 13 million dinars to Tunisia
A signing ceremony for the exchange of donation notes will be held today, June 9. It will be attended by Shimizu Shinsuke, Ambassador of Japan, and Selma Ennaifer, Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. COVID-19 is at the centre of the signing ceremony. Indeed, the object of this signature is a donation for the acquisition of medical equipment. It amounts to 500 million yen (approximately 13 million Tunisian dinars). This is what the Embassy of Japan in Tunisia states in a press release released today, June 9. This medical equipment will be used to ensure better prevention against COVID-19 in Tunisia.
The same source considers that in Tunisia, although the COVID-19 pandemic has been well controlled, the risk of further spread has not yet been ruled out. Therefore, the strengthening of the health and medical system is an urgent matter. This project therefore aims to contribute to strengthening the control of infectious diseases and the health and medical system. This will be achieved by providing high-tech medical equipment, such as X-ray and ultrasound. In this way, Japan continues to support vulnerable countries. This is for the rapid eradication of COVID-19.
The same source considers that in Tunisia, the risk of further spread is still not ruled out. So the strengthening of the health and medical system is a matter of urgency. This project therefore aims to contribute to strengthening the control of infectious diseases and the health and medical system. This will be achieved by providing high-tech medical equipment. Moreover, at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7), held in August 2019, Japan announced the promotion of the expansion of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa. And this cooperation is an embodiment of this assistance initiative.
For more information (in French), please visit the following link.
June 10, 2020: Maghreb: Tunisia announces victory over COVID-19
Tunisia announced on Monday that it had eradicated COVID-19 from its territory. As a result, the Tunisian presidency has decided to lift the curfew, which has been in place since 17 March. The current balance sheet is 1087 cases, distributed among 982 recoveries, 56 active carriers and 49 deceased. Tunisia is now devoting itself to the recovery of its economy, in particular the rescue of its tourist season.
The director of the Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases, Dr. Nissaf Ben Aleya, yesterday maintained her calls for precaution despite the eradication of COVID-19 in Tunisia. “The risk lies in the duty to control entries after the opening of the borders, scheduled from 27 June, and the continuation of the repatriation of Tunisians, so that this opening does not lead to further spread of the virus,” she explained. Dr. Ben Aleya stressed that caution is called for and that a testing campaign has covered the entire population of the island of Djerba (3000 citizens), to ensure that the area, affected by the coronavirus, has been purified. Similar campaigns will be carried out in all tourist areas to prevent the return of the pandemic. Tunisia is thus multiplying the gestures of preparation for its return to normal life and tries to present itself as a safe zone for foreigners. In addition, the Pasteur Institute of Tunis announced, the day before yesterday, the launching of a serological test allowing the detection of total antibodies specific to the SARS-CoV2 virus, which makes it possible to detect whether the tested subject has been in contact with the virus.
The price of this test is 27,560 dinars (9 euros) and the time required to obtain the result is 3 to 4 days. The director general of the Institute, Professor Hechmi Louzir, points out that “teams of researchers at the Institute are also working on a vaccine. But the research is in the basic stages, while other teams are much more advanced”. Professor Louzir recalls that “research has revealed that the measures taken have helped Tunisia avoid nearly 25,000 pandemic cases and a thousand deaths”.
Covid Safe Covid Safe destinations are already starting to flourish, depending on the results of the fight against the pandemic. Thus, the firm Targa Consult published on 6 June a comparative table, based on statistics from the Centre for Science and Engineering Systems (CSSE) of the John Hopkins University, where Tunisia appears as the second most Covid Safe destination for this summer in the Mediterranean after Montenegro. Tunisia is ahead of two other Balkan countries, Croatia 3rd, and Slovenia 4th. The aim is to present the number of active carriers per million inhabitants. However, only 56 cases of Covid+ remain in Tunisia, compared to 982 cures and 49 deaths. The number of infected people may soon drop to zero, since two-thirds of the carriers come from abroad, via repatriation flights for Tunisians living abroad.
Tunisian professionals have already contacted the international tourism authorities with a view to reaching an agreement on the conditions for opening up Tunisia to tourists from abroad. A health protocol for Tunisian tourism (PSST) anti-COVID-19 has already been established on May 27th and has been in application since June 4th. This manual focuses essentially on the respect of hygiene and health security rules, through the customers’ journey from the border posts to the tourists’ departure, as well as the maintenance of the hygiene of the staff of the whole chain of services. The manual used the 5M method (Material, Equipment, Environment. Manpower and Method) throughout the customer journey. This anti-COVID-19 TSP was inspired by the experiences of some twenty countries and has been enriched by the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO).
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
June 10, 2020: Tunisia, a “safe” destination for the World Tourism Organization
The Tunisian success against COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is indisputable and this time it is the WTO (World Tourism Organization) that has reiterated it. In a Tweet published on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, it did not fail to promote the sanitary protocol of the tourist sector, put in place by Tunisia. “Tunisia has put in place a health protocol in order to guarantee a safe environment for travellers and workers in the tourism sector”, we read in the UNWTO Tweet. This highlights the quality of the colossal work done by Tunisia in the face of COVID-19. Such a Tweet from such a large international organization can only promote the Tunisian destination in this context of health crisis. It should also be recalled that the ONTT (Tunisian National Tourist Office) has launched a video to promote Tunisia as a Covid-Safe destination. Our country was also mentioned in the famous Forbes magazine.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
