06 – 13 September, 2020 | Press Review Tunisia

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Photo: John S. on Flickr

September 13, 2020: Tunisian paediatric society recommends a normal and uninterrupted return to school

The Tunisian paediatric society recommended, in a press release, the normal and uninterrupted return to school of all children while calling for the respect of the preventive measures.

The STP justifies this decision by national and international epidemiological data showing that the child plays a weak role in the transmission of the infection whether it is from child to child or from child to adult.

According to the same source, children under 10 years of age rarely contribute to the transmission of CoV2-SARS and paediatric starting point clusters are rare or even exceptional compared to children over 10 years of age.

In addition, a child exposed to a contaminating case becomes infected less frequently than an adult, and if infected, is most often asymptomatic and hospitalized forms are rare.

The STP reports that in Tunisia, as of September 1st, the 248 children tested positive were all asymptomatic and none of them were hospitalized.

According to the Tunisian Paediatric Society, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged school dropout of children are multiple and serious, citing as examples the increase in domestic accidents, aggressiveness, the rise in the suicide rate and delinquency in addition to the exacerbation of social and educational inequalities (digital divide) and the loss of learning.

It should be noted that the start of the 2020-2021 school year will take place from 15 September next, in a progressive manner according to school levels.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 12, 2020: Death of Dr Gharsallah by coronavirus – the Tunisian Medical Council is concerned about the epidemiological situation

The Regional Council of the Tunisian Medical Association expresses “its great concern about the current epidemiological situation and the reality on the ground”, and calls for stronger measures to deal with the coronavirus, which caused the death of their colleague Slim Gharsallah on Saturday, September 12, 2020.
In a statement, the CROM office in Tunis deplored the loss of Dr Gharsallah, the first doctor in Tunisia to succumb to the COVID19 and offered its condolences to the family of the deceased, while stating that the first testimonies collected point to difficulties in care.

“This is a worrying situation, the CROM office in Tunis expresses its great concern about the current epidemiological situation in our country and the reality on the ground and calls for more restrictive measures to effectively curb the spread of the virus,” the statement reads.

The Council also calls for optimising the circuit to be followed by patients and especially by their treating doctors: “in case of suspicion of COVID-19 cases with worrying symptoms, so that this tragedy does not happen again”, the communiqué adds before concluding: “May the soul of our colleague rest in peace”.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 11, 2020: Minister of Education calls private education institutions to order

Education Minister Fethi Salaouati is clear on this! All the procedures and protocols announced for the start of the 2020-2021 school year will also apply to the private sector and all private educational institutions are required to apply and follow them.

This is a major clarification on the part of the Minister when it is known that the Chamber of Private Educational Institutions has indicated that private educational institutions are not subject to these measures because they do not have the same educational conditions as those in the public sector.

In particular, it has announced that the system of group teaching and other systems announced by the Department of Education, will not be applied in the private sector because classes are generally not overcrowded.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 10, 2020: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs comments on the dismissal of the Tunisian ambassador to the UN

Commenting on the dismissal of Kaïs Kabtni from his post of Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations (UN) in New York, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad issued a press release on Thursday, September 10, 2020, in which it presented clarifications on the issue.
Indeed, the department clarified that Kabtni was transferred to another diplomatic centre within the framework of the annual movement of heads of permanent diplomatic and consular missions.
It added that this transfer is in line with the requirements of diplomatic action as well as the interests of the state ensuring that the decision was taken in view of Kabtni’s professional record and his achievement of the diplomatic objectives set for his mission.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad has, moreover, emphasised that the preservation of Tunisia’s image and serving its supreme interests were among the duties of its representatives to foreign countries.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 10, 2020: Faced with the acceleration of the epidemic, the Ministry of Health is working twice as hard to contain COVID-19

The Minister of Health, Faouzi Mehdi, announced the creation of a new unit to care for patients infected with COVID-19 at the Sahloul hospital in Sousse. It was also decided to adequately equip laboratories in all regions so that they are ready to carry out coronavirus screening tests.

The latest health check-up reports a total of 5400 confirmed cases of coronavirus, of which 265 cases have been identified among the medical and paramedical staff and only 17 cases are in intensive care. This was stated by the coordinator of the national coronavirus control programme and director of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases (Onmne), Nissaf Ben Alya, at a press conference held yesterday, during which Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi announced new measures following an observed acceleration of the epidemic.

Thus, in an effort to adapt to the dynamics of the circulation of the virus but also to reinforce hospitalization capacity, the minister decided to create a new unit for the care of patients infected by COVID-19 at the Sahloul hospital of Sousse and to adequately equip analysis laboratories in all regions of the country so that they are ready to carry out coronavirus screening tests.

“In view of the outbreak of new cases of contamination, the capacity of the COVID-19 testing centres has been exceeded. This is why we have decided to integrate all the laboratories specialising in COVID-19 analysis into the programme of support for specialised medicine in priority regions, with the aim of strengthening their medical teams. We have also decided to activate the psychological support cells for front-line carers,” he said. In addition, and as part of the fight against the epidemic in schools, Faouzi Mehdi said that water points (water tanks) will be deployed in about 300 schools, in collaboration with international NGOs. In addition, he said that a detailed report of donations to the Coronavirus 1818 Fund will be published soon.

In the absence of a validated treatment and an effective vaccine against COVID-19, the health authorities have only one watchword: cohabiting with the virus.

“Currently, there are only 17 cases in intensive care. This explains why the number of critical cases is limited. We must continue to coexist with the virus by applying all health protection measures,” stressed Nissaf Ben Alya in his speech at the press conference. She added that in the alert zones and regions, there are now intensive operations to investigate cases of COVID19, which make it possible to identify clusters and subsequently take general protective measures. This helps to mitigate the circulation of the virus in these high-risk areas.

“The drop in the number of contaminations in the Kairouan region is due to the successful investigation of COVID-19 cases that have been carried out there,” she noted.

But isn’t the start of the new school year accelerating the spread of the virus? And how are the health authorities going to react in the event of the appearance of clusters in schools? To answer this question, the director of the Onmne said that there is an investigation guide that defines clusters as well as isolated cases. According to this guide, if a cluster of three cases grouped together in the same class is discovered, the authorities will carry out an investigation operation which will include the whole class, including the teacher. In the event that 3 clusters in 3 different classes are identified, an investigation operation of the cases of contamination will be carried out throughout the school and the closure of the school – which may last up to 14 days – will be decided according to the epidemiological situation.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 09, 2020: COVID-19 centre soon to be inaugurated in Borj Cedria

In view of the deteriorating epidemiological situation, it was necessary to increase the capacity of the COVID-19 centres in Tunisia.

It is in this sense that the delegate of Soliman stated in a Shems FM statement that a new Covid-19 centre will soon be inaugurated in Borj Cedria in the governorate of Ben Arous.

With a capacity of up to 250 cases, it will be inaugurated within the framework of cooperation between the governorates of Nabeul and Ben Arous.

This centre will be designed to receive suspect cases but also confirmed cases and will alleviate the pressure on other centres, notably that of Monastir.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 09, 2020: Reinforcement of screening and the fight against coronavirus

The Minister of Health, Faouzi Mehdi, announced, on Wednesday 9 September, new measures aimed at reinforcing screening and the fight against the coronavirus in Tunisia.

During a press conference held at the department’s headquarters in Tunis, the minister announced that the laboratories concerned by COVID-19 will be reinforced by medical executives within the framework of the programme to promote specialty medicine in priority regions.

He added that the laboratories in all regions of the country will also be reinforced with the necessary equipment so that they will be able to screen for COVID-19.

Faouzi Mehdi also announced the creation of a new service for the care of patients suffering from COVID-19 at the Sahloul hospital in Sousse and its equipment with all the necessary means in addition to the activation of listening and psychological assistance cells for the benefit of front-line health cadres.

The minister indicated that these measures aim to reinforce screening and improve the care of patients suffering from COVID-19 which has become an unavoidable reality in Tunisia mainly with the continuous increase in the number of cases of infection.

In addition, the minister announced that Nissaf Ben Alaya, a member of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases is now the national coordinator of scientific work and anti-COVID-19 programmes and is also the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Health in this field.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 08, 2020: The government is working on the start of the new school year, in a context of Coronavirus

The head of government, Hichem Mechichi, chaired yesterday Monday, September 7, 2020, a ministerial session devoted to the final preparations for the start of the school year, in the face of the evolution of the epidemiological situation of Covid-19 in Tunisia.

In a statement at the end of the meeting, the Minister of Education, Fethi Sellaouti, indicated that the start of the school year will take place, in a progressive and flexible manner, from Tuesday, September 15, taking into consideration the specificities of each school.

The return of classes will be done in coordination with the parties concerned, ministries, commissions, regional delegates and unions, he said, quoted by a statement from the Kasbah.

The ministry had announced, the day before, the planning of the return of classes in schools, colleges and high schools.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 07, 2020: Financial support to control the pandemic

Faced with the crisis caused by COVID-19, which is currently affecting countries all over the world and continues to create a precarious socio-environmental climate due to the difficult to control spread of the virus, the Tunisian government has requested, in response to this crisis, the support of the World Bank for the financing of an emergency response component for COVID-19 estimated at 41 million TND (nearly €13 million).

In this unprecedented situation, Tunisia is suffering from serious shortages of medical and laboratory equipment and supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control products to cope with the Covid-19 crisis.

The Project for Intensification of Irrigated Agriculture in Tunisia (Piait), approved by the World Bank in 2018, has been restructured to support the Tunisian government in coping with the COVID-19 epidemic. This restructuring is necessary in order to provide the necessary means to put at the disposal of the medical and paramedical staff and consists particularly in the acquisition of equipment and resuscitation material (resuscitation beds, respirators, surveillance units, etc.).
Intensive care for emergencies

It also includes the purchase of intensive care equipment for the emergency services (rolling stock, treatment trolleys), as well as the acquisition of medical equipment for the infectious disease services (4 services). There are also plans for the acquisition of personal protective equipment (masks, goggles, single-use overalls and over-shoes, etc.) for the nursing staff.

The purchase of laboratory and diagnostic equipment (laboratory reagents, equipment for packaging, storing and transporting samples for analysis, etc.) is also noted on the list. The equipment and products that will be acquired will benefit hospitals and care and virological/microbiological analysis centres throughout the country and are intended to contribute to the national effort to prevent the spread of the disease and care for patients who are finally affected in satisfactory conditions.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 06, 2020: Fight against the coronavirus, 21 governorates classified red

The number of governorates classified as red concerning the spread of the coronavirus in Tunisia has risen to 21, with an average of 10 cases of contamination per 100 thousand inhabitants in each governorate, announced the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases.

The Observatory said this “red list” includes the governorates of Gabes (779 cases), Ben Arous (325 cases), Sousse (245 cases), Tunis, El Kef (208) L’Ariana (144 cases), Kairouan (122), Monastir and Sfax (81 cases) each.

The same list also includes, with fewer cases of contamination, the governorates of Médenine, Jendouba, Nabeul, Tataouine, Mahdia, Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine and Kebili, Siliana, Bizerte, La Manouba and Gafsa, which were out of the said list until last Wednesday.

This list includes most of the governorates, with the exception of three governorates: Béja (5 cases), Zaghouan (3 cases) and Tozeur (2 cases), per 100 thousand inhabitants. It should be noted that the list of governorates classified as “red” included, two days ago, 19 governorates, when the number of hospitalizations did not exceed 49, before it increased, on Friday, to 66 hospitalizations.

Since the discovery of the first case of COVID-19 in early March, Tunisia has recorded 84 deaths and the recovery of 1,681 patients, while the number of active cases has reached about 2,629.

Officials of the scientific committee for the fight against the coronavirus had indicated in previous statements to the TAP that the increase in the number of cases of contamination is due to the non-application of preventive measures, stressing the imperative to apply physical distancing as well as the wearing of masks.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

September 06, 2020: Parents reluctant to enrol their children in childcare facilities

The president of the national trade union chamber of crèches and kindergartens under the UTICA, Nabiha Kammoun, said Sunday that the pre-school sector is registering a reluctance of parents to enrol their children in crèches and kindergartens because of their fear of the dangers of infection by the COVID-19 virus.

Kammoun said in a statement to the TAP agency that the rate of children’s enrolment in crèches and kindergartens differs from one region to another, noting that some have already reached their capacity while others have recorded a low influx.

Since children’s institutions started operating (1 September 2020), some parents have resorted to having their children cared for by relatives and neighbours instead of enrolling them in a children’s institution, to prevent against the risk of contamination by the COVID-19 virus, the spread of which increased since 18 August 2020.

According to Kammoun, several owners of children’s establishments are having financial problems because of the low number of children enrolled and are unable to cover their financial and tax burdens.

The head of the department has asked for the tax burden of the owners of crèches and kindergartens to be eased by granting them a grace period until they overcome their financial difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.