On Tuesday, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba dismissed the Head of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Badr Al-Din Al-Najjar, and appointed Dr. Haider Al-Sayeh as his successor.
The decision comes in light of a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases across the country during the last five weeks, with infections rising faster than in previous months.
The Libyan authorities have not yet reported an official confirmation of the Delta-variant, despite its circulation in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt
Earlier today, Dbaiba announced the extension of the evening curfew (6 PM- 6 AM), after the three-day total lockdown ended on Monday.
The NCDC reported on Tuesday that 2,134 people had tested positive for COVID-19, marking a 30% infection rate. It added that 31 people had died, while 967 recovered during the same reporting period.
Over 271,000 confirmed cases have been recorded in Libya, since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. This includes 201,000 cases which have successfully recovered, according to the NCDC.
The virus has claimed the lives of 3,781 people in total, and an estimated 782,000 people have been partially vaccinated.