TRIPOLI: Libya has reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, a particular source of concern in the North African country where civil war has badly degraded the public health care system.
Libya has been mired in chaos since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi and is divided between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNA) and forces loyal to eastern-based military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The health minister of the UN-recognized GNA late Tuesday reported “a first contamination with the coronavirus in Libya,” without giving details of the case.
“The necessary measures have been taken to treat” the patient, the minister, Ehmed Ben Omar, said in a brief online statement.
Badreddine Al-Najar, director of the National Center for Disease Control, said the patient had returned from Saudi Arabia via Tunisia a week ago.
Even before this first case was detected, both rival administrations had launched preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, including night-time curfews and the closure of restaurants and cafes.
But they have continued to fight in the main battleground south of the capital, where the sound of heavy bombardment was heard on Tuesday.
The risk posed by the pandemic is particularly worrying in Libya, where the security and humanitarian situation have deteriorated further since Haftar launched an offensive against Tripoli almost a year ago.
The fighting has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced 150,000.
A fragile truce entered into force on January 12, but fighting has continued with each side blaming the other.
Days ago, UN chief Antonio Guterres urged both GNA and Haftar forces to observe a truce, citing “the already dire humanitarian situation in Libya and the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
War-torn Libya reports first coronavirus case
https://arab.news/zpzsf
War-torn Libya reports first coronavirus case
- Libya has been mired in chaos since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi
- Rival administrations had launched preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic
5 bodies of migrants washed ashore in east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, police officer says
TRIPOLI: At least five bodies of migrants including two women have been washed ashore in َQasr Al-Akhyar, a coastal town in the east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, a police officer told Reuters on Saturday.
Hassan Al-Ghawil, head of investigations at the Qasr Al-Akhyar police station, said that according to people in the area, a child’s body washed ashore and because of the waves’ height the body returned to the sea, and the coast guard was asked to search for it.
Ghawil said the bodies are all dark-skinned people. The bodies were found on Emhamid Al-Sharif shore in the western part of the town by people who reported to the police station.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean since the fall in 2011 of dictator Muammar Qaddafi to a NATO-backed uprising. Factional conflict has split the country into western and eastern factions since 2014.
Qasr Al-Akhyar is a coastal town some 73 kilometers (45 miles) east of Tripoli.
Pictures were posted on the Internet, and also seen by Reuters, showing the bodies of the migrants lying on the shore, where some were still within black inflatable lifebuoys.
“We reported to the Red Crescent to recover the bodies,” said Ghawil. “The bodies we found are still intact and we think there are more bodies to wash ashore.”
Earlier this month, fifty-three migrants, including two babies, were dead or missing after a rubber boat carrying 55 people capsized off the coast of Zuwara town in western Tripoli, the International Organization for Migration said.
Last week, a UN report said migrants in Libya, including young girls, are at risk of being killed, tortured, raped or put into domestic slavery, calling for a moratorium on the return of migrant boats to the country until human rights are ensured.
