On Sunday, the Prime Minister of the Libyan Interim Government, Abdullah Al-Thinni, ordered the formation of a committee tasked with periodically inspecting all hospitals and medical centres. This is in addition to taking the necessary measures against those who violate COVID-19 precautionary measures, set by the authorities.
Al-Thinni added that the committee is also tasked with submitting the results of its work, directly to him on a weekly basis.
In the decree No. 129 of 2020, Al-Thinni said that the committee will be chaired by Major General Yunus Farhat bin Jadairiyah who is Undersecretary General of the Defense Ministry. The committee will also include Rida Faraj Al-Fretais, Director of the Follow-up and Performance Assessment Department in the Cabinet Office, Jomaa Abdel-Salam Al-Qatrani, Director of the Cabinet’s Audit Office, Muhammad Idris Hasan, a member of the Internal Security Agency, Abdul Hamid Buzard Muhammad, a member of the Medical Supply Service, Jasser Ali Salem, a representative of the Ministry of Justice, and Muhammad Ali bin Khayal, a representative of the Health Ministry.
Notably, pediatric and public health specialist, Idris Al-Qayed, confirmed on Saturday that COVID-19 cases are dramatically increasing in the country.
He indicated that Libya is on the verge of a disaster, as cases and deaths surge. He pointed that the country’s hospitals and isolation centres have become full. Al-Qayed said, “The daily number of coronavirus cases in Libya is now 600 to 700 cases; the problem is how to confirm that these cases are infected with coronavirus or not”.
Al-Qayed stressed the importance of following social distancing, to stop the spread of the epidemic. He also called on citizens to undergo medical tests, only after showing symptoms of the virus.
On Sunday, Libya’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 655 new cases and 13 deaths, over the past 24 hours. In a statement, the NCDC said that the country’s tally now soared to 17,749 confirmed cases, including 285 deaths, and 2,081 recoveries.