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Denver- Morocco announced it will be providing medical assistance to Tunisia, as COVID-19 rates continue to swell in the North African country.
Morocco plans to provide “two complete and autonomous resuscitation units” with the capacity to support 100 beds to the Tunisian people, Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement under the direction of King Mohammed VI.
Morocco will send “100 respirators and two oxygen generators.”
Each oxygen generator will reportedly have the capacity to generate up to 33 cubic meters of oxygen per hour. Morocco’s Royal Air Force will carry out the transport of supplies to Tunisia, according to the announcement.
The statement affirmed the “active solidarity between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Tunisia” as motivation for the humanitarian mission.
Tunisia is currently in the midst of a heavy COVID-19 resurgence that is affecting several countries across the Maghreb.
Medical officials reported over 8,500 new cases of COVID -19 last Friday alone, and the country currently has an average of 7,823 new cases reported per day over the last week, according to researchers at John Hopkins University. This is reported to be the highest daily rates of infections that Tunisia has recorded since the pandemic began in 2019.
Health officials are particularly concerned as new COVID-19 variants begin to appear, the most prominent of which are known as the “delta” and “lambda” strains.
With an exceptionally high national unemployment rate of 15%, and a stagnating tourism industry due to the pandemic, many Tunisians are concerned that resurging infection rates will continue to hamper the country’s economic recovery.
One man interviewed by Africa News, noted the precarious situation in the country, as vendors continue “waiting for visitors to earn a living,” and “whole families are waiting to be fed.”
Tunisia has reportedly imposed new lockdown measures to curb the spike, but the country has struggled to keep infections under control.
Limited vaccine access, failure to adhere to social distance directives, and an overwhelmed healthcare system has caused Tunisia to have the highest amount of recorded COVID deaths in the Maghreb.
For many Tunisians, the latest spike comes at an inopportune time, as the country hoped to reopen this summer to generate revenue from its tourism industry.
With the increase in reported cases, the economic future of many Tunisians remains uncertain.
