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Rabat – Algeria’s new Prime Minister, Aymen Benabderrahmane, has tested positive for COVID-19. A press release from the prime minister’s office confirmed the news earlier today, with Benabderrahmane announcing he will enter self-confinement for 7 days before being tested again.
Prime Minister Benabderrahmane likely had hoped for a better first week in office, as COVID-19 numbers have risen significantly and he himself now will become one of Algeria’s many new cases.
Algerian President Abdelmdjid Tebboune appointed the former finance minister as prime minister at the end of June. On Wednesday July 7, Tebboune further announced that Benabderrahmane would also retain his post as the head of the finance ministry.
Benabderrahmane’s dual function means that Algeria will have to do without its prime minister and finance minister for at least a week, even as the country is grappling with a myriad of crises.
The prime minister’s office announced that he will “continue to work and fulfill his missions remotely,” a message that will bring back memories for many in Algeria to similar messaging when President Tebboune was hospitalized.
With a new wave of COVID-19 infections hitting Algeria, the country’s aging leadership is nearly all within the high-risk group for the virus. Earlier experiences with Tebboune and Algerian-backed militia leader Brahim Ghali are unlikely to provide confidence in a swift recovery among the general public.
The news of Benabderrahmane’s infection became public on the day that President Tebboune announced a new set of measures to combat the renewed upsurge in new COVID-19 cases. Tebboune announced that the country would immediately reinstate all preventive measures “decided upon since the start of the spread of the epidemic.”
