Algeria to resume economic activities on June 7 with precautionary measures

ALGIERS - The Algerian government on Thursday announced that economic and commercial activities will resume on June 7 as part of easing the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Prime Minister's office said in a statement that the resumption of economic activities will be accompanied by compliance with strict precautionary measures.

It added that the measures must be scrupulously respected and applied by all operators, traders and customers.

Under the plan, the gradual recovery of economic, commercial and service activities will initially be implemented in two phases, with the first phase starting on June 7 and the second on June 14.

It stressed that "all customers must wear a protective mask and managers of establishments will be held responsible for noncompliance with this obligation."

The first phase concerns the resumption of activities in several sectors, including building and public works, subcontracting activities, design works and some commercial sectors.

The activities in the second phase will be identified and adopted by the public authorities according to the development of the coronavirus situation.

Algeria, which announced the first COVID-19 case on Feb. 25, has taken precautionary measures against the virus since the beginning of March.

As of Thursday, Algeria confirmed 9,831 COVID-19 cases, including 681 deaths.

China and Algeria have offered mutual help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. A Chinese medical team arrived in Algeria on May 14 for a 15-day mission to help fight the COVID-19, through sharing China's experiences in controlling the contagious disease.