On Monday, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transportation of Libya’s Interim Government of National Unity (GNU), Wissam Al-Idrissi, confirmed that a total of 800 stranded Libyans in Tunisia have been successfully repatriated over the past two days.
In press statements, Al-Idrisi explained that they have taken all the necessary measures to facilitate the repatriation process.
On Saturday, Head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Mnifi issued instructions to all relevant authorities to assist nationals returning home, noting that all precautionary measures should be taken upon their return.
The Libyan government has decided to close its air and land borders with Tunisia for a week starting from 00:00 local time Friday (22:00 GMT Thursday), said the government’s Spokesman, Mohamed Hamuda. This is due to the deteriorating COVID-19 pandemic situation in Tunisia, amid the rise in infections of the Delta variant, as well as the announcement of the collapse of Tunisia’s healthcare system.
“Over the past few days, Libya has recorded an alarming number of cases, after the situation remained under control for many weeks. Libyan cities located near the border with Tunisia have witnessed high numbers of infections,” said Dr. Badr Al-Din Al-Najjar, Director of the Libyan National Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
“The fight against the virus is far from over. The virus still strikes and changes,” he said. “Therefore, precautions must be taken seriously.”
Mohamed Al-Hashimi, a respiratory diseases specialist, said that Libya was very late in closing the border, since the delta variant has been spreading for weeks in Tunisia.
Libya has so far reported more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases, with 180,484 recoveries and 3,232 deaths, according to the NCDC.