The rates of the COVID-19 outbreak in Libya are increasing exponentially, to the extent that infection rates have reached more than 4,000 cases on some days.
Last Thursday, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 2,171 cases of COVID-19, in all Libyan municipalities.
The consequences of the virus have led to complete paralysis in some Libyan sectors, especially health and education. This prompted the Libyan Prime Minister, Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba, to announce the partial closure of government sectors, cafés and beaches.
COVID-19 hit the University of Tripoli, where 30 of the university’s faculty members died, which reinforces the state of the outbreak in the sectors of Libya.
Days ago, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced the continuation of the temporary suspension of studies until the end of July, to study the epidemiological situation with the relevant authorities.
On its Facebook page, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research said that this measure was based on the NCDC’s daily bulletin regarding the increase in the number of COVID-19 infections.
The Ministry excluded universities that are located in areas with a good epidemiological situation from this decision, provided that the Ministry is supplied with a report from the relevant committees in those areas. The Ministry stressed that those universities should pledge to follow all precautionary aspects and this exception is limited to final exams only.
In this statement, the Ministry did not mention the deaths among the university faculty members.
On Saturday, the Libyan Ministry of Health launched a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in field centres set up in the capital, Tripoli. They set this up as a response to a significant acceleration in the pandemic spread in the country in recent weeks.
On its Facebook page, the Libyan Ministry of Health announced, “the launch of the exceptional campaign for vaccination against the emerging Coronavirus,” and stated that field vaccination centres have been established in six neighborhoods in Tripoli.
The following are the names of the faculty members at the University of Tripoli who died due to COVID-19:
- Dr. Ibrahim bin Younes Faculty of Engineering, Petroleum Engineering Department.
- Prof. Dr. Hussain Qureshin, Faculty of Languages.
- Dr. Misbah Saad, Computer Department, Faculty of Engineering.
- Dr. Al-Siddiq Bin Ghali, a retired faculty member at the Faculty of Medicine.
- Dr. Abdullah Al-Suwaie Faculty of Languages.
- Dr. Khaled Al-Qamati, Faculty of Languages.
- Dr. Salah Al-Maliti, Faculty of Education in Janzur.
- Dr. Magda Al-Osta, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science.
- Dr. Ahmed Rashid Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
- Dr. Ahmed Al-Najjar, Gaser Bin Gashir Faculty of Education.
- Dr. Faisal Abdel Aziz Al-Zaqqali, Faculty of Arts.
- Dr. Mohamed Suleiman Ahtash Faculty of Agriculture.
- Dr. Belnour Doukali, Faculty of Arts.
- Prof. Dr. Mohamed Tawfiq Al-Jamal, Faculty of Science.
- Dr. Abu Sha’fa al-Tarshani – Faculty of Arts.
- Dr. Al-Hadi Fadl, a retired faculty member, Faculty of Medical Technology.
- Mr. Ramadan Al-Juraibi, Faculty of Economics.
- Mr. Fawzy Afheij, Teaching Assistant, Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics.
- Dr. Khaled Al-Shaibani, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
- Prof. Ahmed Aoun, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry.
- Prof. Dr. Mohamed Al-Bouzidi, Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Systems.
- Dr. Ahmed Musaed, Department of History, Faculty of Arts.
- Dr. Jumaa Souissi, Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics.
- Dr. Mohamed Moncef El-Qamati, Faculty of Languages.
- Dr. Mohamed Al-Souqi, Faculty of Sciences
- Dr. Abd al-Mawla al-Baghdadi
- Dr. Ibrahim Bu Farwa, Faculty of Arts.
- Dr. Abu Bakr Al-Sarrat – Faculty of Engineering.
- Prof. Dr. Mohamed Al-Dofani, Pediatrics Department at Faculty of Medicine.
- Dr. Mabrouk Belhaj – Faculty of Languages.
- Dr. Mohamed Al-Souki, Faculty of Science.
- Dr. Ali Qenaou, Faculty of Science.