Tunisian PM rules out nationwide lockdown despite rapid increase of COVID-19 cases

TUNIS - Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has ruled out again the possibility of a nationwide lockdown despite the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in the country, the Tunis Afrique Presse reported Monday.

However, targeted lockdown could be imposed to preserve the balance between the health of citizens and economic activities, Mechichi said.

"At the weekly meetings of the national committee for the fight against COVID-19, we may decide to tighten the measures against COVID-19 resurgence or to relax them, depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation of the country," he added.

The Tunisian Health Ministry reported 1,285 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total number of infections in the North African country to 301,627.

The death toll from the virus rose by 48 to 10,352 in Tunisia, the ministry said in a statement.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the country reached 2,750, including 516 in intensive care units, while the total number of recoveries reached 251,191.

A total of 1,285,499 lab tests have been carried out in Tunisia so far.