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September 20, 2020: Number of cases still decreasing in the September 20 report
The coronavirus contaminations recorded in the last 24 hours shows a new decrease on Friday, September 19. the COVID-19 pandemic monitoring committee has noted 203 new infected subjects.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Algeria continues its decline since the weeks, the spokesman of the committee in charge of monitoring the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic in our country djamel fourar, reported no less than 203 cases of contaminations with COVID-19 during the last 24 hours.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 19, 2020: Has the closure of borders in Algeria protected the country from the crisis?
The usual tendency of the member of the Scientific Committee for monitoring the evolution of the coronavirus in Algeria, Dr. Bekkat Berkani, explained that the closure of national borders has been salutary for us, avoiding a major health crisis.
According to Dr. Bekkat Berkani, a member of the Scientific Committee, who is also the first person in charge of the Algerian Medical Association, the closure of our borders was the basis of our protection against the coronavirus pandemic, preventing the advent of a much more important health crisis. The doctor presented this restrictive measure as a life-saving decision.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 19, 2020: Insurance market- Revenues down by more than 12% in the first half of 2020
The Permanent Secretariat of the National Insurance Council (CNA) has just published the Economic Outlook for the National Insurance Market for the first half of 2020 (and the second quarter of the year), with provisional figures for production and claims in the national market for property and casualty insurance, personal insurance and reinsurance.
According to the economic note, the insurance market, all activities combined, recorded, as of June 30, 2020, an amount of more than 71 billion DA against 81.2 billion DA for the same period of 2019, a decline of 12.5%.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 18, 2020: Insurance companies donate to PCH
Five insurance companies in the public sector made Thursday in Algiers a donation of medical consumables to the Central Hospital Pharmacy (PCH) at a ceremony for the signing of a solidarity agreement as part of the fight against the spread of the new coronavirus (Covid-19).
The convention was signed by the director of the PCH, Dr. Fatima Wakti and the CEOs of five (05) public insurance companies in the presence of the Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform, Abderrahmane Benbouzid. These are the Algerian Insurance Company (CAAT), the Algerian Insurance and Reinsurance Company (CAAR), the Cash assurances company under the authority of Sonatrach, the National Agricultural Mutuality Fund (CNMA) and the Central Reinsurance Company (CCR).
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 17, 2020: Global Pandemic Update- Trump promises a vaccine by October
More than 936,000 dead: The pandemic caused by the new coronavirus has caused more than 936,000 deaths worldwide since the end of December, according to a report by AFP from official sources Wednesday at 11:00 GMT. More than 29.6 million cases of contamination have been diagnosed. The United States is the country most mourning with 196,661 deaths, followed by Brazil (134,106), India (82,066), Mexico (71,678) and the United Kingdom (41,664).
Trump promises a vaccine as early as October: Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States would have a vaccine against COVID-19 widely distributed in the population as of October, despite opinions to the contrary from health experts and attacks from his opponent Joe Biden who deems him “disqualified” to manage the pandemic.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 17, 2020 : Benbouzid – “The health situation in Algeria is stable”
The Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform, Abderrahmane Benbouzid, confirmed on Thursday, September 17, 2020, that the health situation in Algeria due to the coronavirus epidemic is stable, after an increase in the number of infected cases a few weeks ago.
Responding to questions from deputies of the National People’s Assembly (APN) which resumed its work today in plenary session, particularly on the shortage of specialists in obstetrics and gynecology in the public sector, the minister explained this situation of shortage by the fact that most doctors tend to go to the private sector, stressing that this situation is considered a national problem.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 16, 2020: The very slow decline continues in Algeria
The very slow decline of the coronavirus epidemic continues in Algeria. In the last 24 hours, 232 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, a decrease of six cases compared to the daily assessment published yesterday Tuesday, said the Ministry of Health this Wednesday, September 16. This is the lowest daily assessment since June 25 (+197 cases).
If the new contaminations continue their slow decline, it is not the case of the daily number of deaths from COVID-19, which has slightly increased in the last 24 hours, from 12 to 13 deaths. A total of 1643 people have been killed by the new coronavirus since the announcement of the first COVID-19 death on March 12 in Algeria.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 16, 2020: Will there be a second wave? An expert explains
While Algeria has recorded a continuous decline in infections in recent weeks, the question of a possible second wave of Coronavirus and the rise in infections is hypothetical, says a health professional.
Indeed this is what the head of the infectious diseases department of the EPH of Boufarik, Dr. Mohamed Yousfi, said, quoted by the media Algeria 360 in its edition of September 16. “The hypotheses concerning a possible second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the explosion of the epidemiological curve, including the increase in the number of contagions and deaths in Algeria, remain mere suppositions,” he said.
“Algeria is not in the same epidemiological situation as Europe,” the doctor said. According to him, the country is still experiencing the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is slowly decreasing, he added. That said, “no one can predict the evolution and spread of the virus, nor predict a possible second wave,” the expert reiterated, insisting on vigilance and respect for anti-coronavirus barrier measures.
The head of department however specified why Algeria still remains in the first wave of the pandemic. This was interrupted by an outbreak caused by the failure to comply with preventive health measures, he said. Thus, “the first wave followed a progression before reaching its peak in April, beginning a decline in mid-May.
However, a recurrence of the epidemiological peak occurred between July and early August 2020. This was due to the failure to comply with containment and health recommendations,” said the head of the infectiology department at the EPH in Boufarik.
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September 15, 2020: Reopening Algeria’s borders – “It’s a very complicated issue”.
Dr Abdelkrim Touahria is a member of the scientific committee in charge of monitoring the coronavirus epidemic in Algeria. In this interview, he talks about the start of the school year for which the date has not been set, the reopening of borders, the decrease in the number of cases of contamination?
The Prime Minister said on Sunday, September 13, that the date of the new school year depended on the opinion of the Scientific Committee for Surveillance of the COVID-19 Epidemic. Does the epidemiological situation make it possible to envisage a return to school?
Dr. Abdelkrim Touahria: There is no such thing as zero risk. Now, within the committee, we have been given the opportunity to accompany certain sectors in the resumption of their activities, in particular by putting in place health protocols. As a scientific committee, that’s not going to say that if we have a health protocol, that’s it, we can restart, no. Zero risk does not exist. After the committee evaluation, we can set up health protocols for all sectors of activity. And accompany them. But the fact remains that these are only recommendations, and the decision is not within the competence of the scientific committee, whether it be for the resumption of school or other activities.
But how do you read the Prime Minister’s statement about the date of the start of the new school year?
What we can read from it is that at any moment we can expect a resumption of the coronavirus epidemic. As is currently the case in some European countries (France) and Maghreb countries where there is a resurgence of contaminations. The risk also exists in Algeria. And knowing that this type of decision is very difficult to take, the authorities must rely on the opinion and recommendations of the scientific committee. In the same way, the scientific committee does not take decisions, but it can, at the request of the sector, accompany it in drawing up a health protocol. We don’t go to a given sector to say this is how you are going to go about it. Moreover, since the epidemiological situation has begun to stabilise, we have accompanied various sectors in their recovery, and in particular, the education sector as we followed with them closely on how to conduct of the BEM and Baccalaureate examinations. In total, there is talk of some thirty health protocols covering all sectors. It should be specified that each health protocol is specific to a given sector depending on whether it is a sector where you work in the open air or confined to rooms and offices… The draft of the protocol is given to us by the sector concerned and we on the committee make corrections and validate it.
Reopening the borders: “It’s a very complicated issue”.
Pr Touahria, the question also arises for the reopening of borders that many people are eagerly awaiting. What is your opinion on this issue?
This question is relevant because it falls within the exclusive competence of the high authorities of the State. There are indeed many parameters that come into play in this question of reopening borders. There is the situation in other countries, it does not depend solely on the epidemiological situation in Algeria. Even if you have health checkpoints at the borders, it is still very complicated. Then you have to ask for a PCR test when the only diagnosis of certainty is PCR. It makes absolutely no sense to ask for a serological test. So when someone arrives or leaves the national territory, do we have the capacity to do RT-PCR tests for all travellers? Furthermore, can we trust someone who enters Algerian territory with a negative PCR test? Frankly, this is a very complicated question and I think that the high authorities will certainly ask us for our opinion.
On this very subject, the authorities still haven’t asked you on this issue?
We haven’t been asked for our opinion on this issue at the moment. Now, as members of the scientific committee, we do not have the prerogative to tell the authorities that you can open the borders, we have the protocol. And if one day the possibility of reopening the borders is put on the table, it is clear that the scientific committee will validate the protocol that is needed?
What is your reading of the epidemiological situation in Algeria?
First of all it must be said that the virus still exists, it is there and it circulates. We are indeed recording a downward curve. The indicators are green and give us cause for optimism as the health structures are no longer saturated and are not under pressure as they were before. The second indicator concerns serious patients in intensive care, which are not as numerous as in April, June and July. Similarly, the number of cases in general is beginning to decrease. We know that compared to a certain period when we tested less and had more cases, today we test more and register fewer cases. Remember that last April there were only 4 screening centres and currently there are 30 centres between the branches of the Pasteur Institute of Algeria (IPA), there are the screening centres of hospitals and even universities. But the risk is still there. We are not safe from an upsurge. The respect of barrier measures must be put in place.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
September 14, 2020: The automobile and real estate markets are dropping
In the space of six (06) months, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a 30% drop in commercial activity, moreover the automobile market as well as the real estate market recorded an unprecedented decline.
This is due to the lack of demand; he explained. Referring in passing to the crisis in the automotive market, Bensdira pointed to the lack of new vehicles. “Despite the publication of the specifications governing the conditions of importation; so far no dealer has obtained the authorization to operate”, pointed out the same official.
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