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Tunisia records its first case of the omicron variant

Health officials say a man tested positive for Covid-19 at Tunis airport after arriving from Turkey

People wearing face masks to protect from Covid-19 stand outside a hospital in Tunis. — AP file
People wearing face masks to protect from Covid-19 stand outside a hospital in Tunis. — AP file

By AP

Published: Sun 5 Dec 2021, 11:17 PM

Last updated: Sun 5 Dec 2021, 11:22 PM

Tunisia recorded its first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 on Sunday after health authorities in the North African country said a man travelling in from Turkey tested positive.

A member of Tunisia’s Covid-19 task force, Dr Hachemi Louzer, said the man was from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He tested positive on Friday at Tunis international airport after arriving from Istanbul and a subsequent screening of the sample at the Pasteur Institute for Public Health in the capital, Tunis, confirmed the Omicron variant.

Several of his fellow travellers, including his brother, who tested negative for Covid-19 have been quarantined, he said.

US health authorities have restricted travel to Tunisia after the spread of the Omicron variant in Africa and Europe over the past week.

The overall epidemiological situation in Tunisia has improved in the past two months after the country received vaccine shipments from several countries, including the United States, health experts said.

More than 25,000 people have died of coronavirus in Tunisia.


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