From Morocco to Sudan, North Africa grapples with crippling new wave of COVID-19 

A medical worker assists an elderly woman arriving to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at El-Menzah sports hall in Tunisia's capital Tunis. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 22 May 2023
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From Morocco to Sudan, North Africa grapples with crippling new wave of COVID-19 

  • North African states are seeing varying degrees of success at containing the coronavirus amid a devastating third wave 
  • Slow vaccine rollouts, lockdown fatigue and the spreading Delta variant stretch health systems and economies to the limit 

DUBAI: First identified in India, the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus has since been detected in around 100 countries, prompting new waves of infections, travel restrictions and concerns over the effectiveness of vaccines.

One region that has been especially hard hit is North Africa, where the economic havoc caused by lockdowns forced governments to reluctantly reopen borders and businesses in recent months despite the slow pace of inoculation.

Tunisia, with a population of 11.69 million, has reported 582,638 infections and 19,336 deaths since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, making it one of the worst-hit nations in Africa, alongside Namibia, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

The collapse of the health system and severe economic hardship triggered mass protests that in turn have plunged the country into a political crisis.

War-ravaged Libya has also witnessed an alarming surge of COVID-19 cases over the past month. Because of its two centers of political power with parallel institutions, its response and vaccination rollout have been disjointed and sluggish.

The country’s National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) recorded 3,845 new COVID-19 cases on July 25 — at that time the highest daily rate since the onset of the pandemic.

Libya has recorded roughly 246,200 cases and 3,469 deaths, but the true figure is likely far higher given the country’s acute shortage of tests and laboratory capacity.

“We are alarmed at the rapid spread of the virus in the country,” AbdulKadir Musse, UNICEF Special Representative in Libya, said in a statement.




A Moroccan municipal worker disinfects outside a house in a closed street in the southern port city of Safi on June 9, 2020 after Moroccan authorities declared a total lockdown. (AFP/File Photo)

“The vaccination rate is very low, and the spread is fast. We must be quicker in our response. The most important thing we can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the variants, is ensure everyone who is eligible gets vaccinated.

“Countries with high coverage of two doses of vaccines have been able to drastically reduce the rate of hospitalization and deaths. We also need to follow and abide by preventive measures.”

Also known by its scientific name B.1.617.2, the delta variant was first detected in the Indian state of Maharashtra in October 2020, but was only labeled a “variant of concern” (VOC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 11 this year.

The strain, itself the product of multiple mutations, is thought to be 60 percent more infectious than the alpha (or Kent) variant, an earlier mutation that emerged in southern England in November 2020.

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Arab countries of North Africa have particularly felt the economic pain of the coronavirus crisis. Find out why here.

In many countries, including the UK, delta has now become the dominant strain. Although it is thought to cause more severe symptoms than its ancestor variants, placing additional strain on health services, there is currently not enough data to suggest it is more deadly.

More encouraging is the data on the effectiveness of vaccines. A study by Public Health England found the Pfizer vaccine was 94 percent effective against hospitalization after one dose and 96 percent effective after two doses, while AstraZeneca was 71 percent effective after one dose and 92 percent effective after two.

This is all good for countries with high rates of vaccination such as the UK. But for countries in the developing world, including the Arab states of North Africa, the slow rollout of vaccines means there is limited protection against the virus.

Delta is taking a terrible toll in these countries, leaving hospitals overburdened and mortuaries short of space.

Africa as a whole recently recorded a 43 percent week-on-week rise in COVID-19 deaths. Hospital admissions have increased rapidly and countries face shortages of oxygen and ICU beds.




A mask-clad worker measures the body temperature of incoming Muslim worshippers arriving for prayers at the Hasan II mosque, one of the largest in the African continent, in Morocco's Casablanca. (AFP/File Photo)

According to the WHO, the continent has vaccinated around 52 million people since the start of the rollout in March and only 18 million are fully vaccinated, representing 1.5 percent of the continent’s population compared with more than 50 percent in some high-income countries.

South Africa, with its population of almost 60 million, has recorded 2,422,151 cases and 71,431 deaths since the pandemic began. Based on deaths per head of the population, Tunisia tops the region.

However, the picture is not uniform across the region. To date, 1.63 percent of Egyptians and 1.68 percent of Algerians have been fully vaccinated, compared with 27.68 percent of Moroccans, and 8.24 percent of Tunisians. Just 0.43 percent of Sudanese have received two doses, while data for Libya is unavailable.

“Different countries have different epidemiological situations, so we can’t generalize all of North Africa,” Abdinasir Abubakar, head of the Infectious Hazard Management Unit at the WHO regional office in Cairo, told Arab News.

Some countries have “really invested so much in vaccination and this is paying off,” while other countries have focused on enforcing public-health measures to slow the spread of the virus, he said.

“I think Morocco has really made a great investment and progress on administering more people with the vaccine compared to a number of other countries. And the cases you see are actually very minimal compared to previous waves, so I wouldn’t worry much about Morocco,” Abubakar said.




People queue as they arrive outside a make-shift COVID-19 coronavirus vaccination and testing centre erected at the Martyrs' Square of Libya's capital Tripoli on July 24, 2021. (AFP)

Nevertheless, cases in Morocco have been steadily increasing since mid-May, prompting the government to announce an extension of its state of emergency until Aug. 10.

Having already inoculated older age groups, Moroccan health authorities are now offering vaccines to people over the age of 30. But compliance with social-distancing and other hygiene regulations appears to be slipping.

“In Casablanca, I saw many people wearing masks but without adhering to other physical and social-distancing measures,” said Um Ahmad, who recently returned to Dubai following a family visit.

“I saw crowds on the streets and in markets as usual. And when I visited Fez, I saw people living normally with no precautionary actions whatsoever. I even asked my relative ‘are we on a different planet?’”




A Tunisian woman infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus receives oxygen at the Ibn al-Jazzar hospital in the east-central city of Kairouan. (AFP/File Photo)

In Algeria, which decided to close its borders to curb the spread of the delta variant, there is another more pressing problem — a shortage of oxygen in its hospitals to treat the seriously ill, forcing the government to establish a special unit to supervise the distribution of oxygen cylinders.

Egypt has reported a recent decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, with officials recording less than 70 new infections and less than 10 deaths per day. The country has even started sending its surplus medical kits to Tunisia.

But here too, public compliance with social-distancing measures leaves much to be desired. Eman Amir, an Egyptian working in Dubai who traveled to Cairo in May to visit her ailing mother, said she was shocked by the public’s relaxed attitude toward virus containment.

“Those who don’t care whether they die of coronavirus are those who feel they have little to lose given their already precarious existence,” she told Arab News, referring to contract and informal-sector workers most affected by pandemic restrictions.

In neighboring Sudan, cases are surging, particularly in the eastern city of Port Sudan, capital of the Red Sea State.




Abdinasir Abubakar, head of Infectious Hazard Management Unit, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. (Supplied)

Dr. Ahmed Dreyer, the state’s director of the Emergency and Epidemic Control Department, has urged authorities to impose a three-week lockdown — known in policy circles as a circuit breaker — to help contain the spread of the delta variant.

Hana, a young Sudanese woman who lives with her family in Dubai, says many people back home are still not convinced the coronavirus even exists — the product, it would seem, of widespread misinformation.

“People have enough problems to worry about,” Hana said. “They don’t want to add to them and worry about the pandemic.

“They try to lead normal lives, by earning their livelihood and putting bread on the table.” 

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Twitter: @jumanaaltamimi

 


Attacks against Palestinians intensify in occupied West Bank, says UN rights office

Updated 57 min 40 sec ago
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Attacks against Palestinians intensify in occupied West Bank, says UN rights office

  • About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its ‘Iron Wall’ operation
  • In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank

GENEVA: There has been an increase in killings of and attacks against Palestinians by settlers and security forces in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.

“Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR), told reporters in Geneva.

About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its “Iron Wall” operation.

It is contributing to the ongoing consolidation of annexation of the West Bank, in violation of international law, the OHCHR said.

In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank.

Since January there have been 757 settler attacks on Palestinians or their properties, which is a 13 percent increase on the same period last year, OHCHR said.

At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Fifty-three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and in Israel in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes, the office added.


One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished, says UN Palestinian refugee agency

Updated 51 min 6 sec ago
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One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished, says UN Palestinian refugee agency

  • One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished

GENEVA: One in ten children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza is malnourished, UNRWA said on Tuesday.
"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.


Israel military says striking Hezbollah targets in east Lebanon

Updated 15 July 2025
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Israel military says striking Hezbollah targets in east Lebanon

  • Israel's military said: “Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes toward Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Beqaa, Lebanon”

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it was striking targets belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.
“Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes toward Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Beqaa, Lebanon,” it said in a statement.
“The military compounds that were struck were used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization for training and exercising terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against (Israeli) troops and the State of Israel,” it added.
The statement said an Israeli military operation in September 2024 had “eliminated” Radwan force commanders in Beirut and southern Lebanon, but that “since then the unit has been operating to reestablish its capabilities.”
“The storage of weapons and the activities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization at these sites constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and constitute a future threat to the State of Israel,” it added.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war that left the group severely weakened.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.


Drone attack shuts Iraq oil field run by US company

Updated 15 July 2025
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Drone attack shuts Iraq oil field run by US company

  • The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit
  • Strike called ‘an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure’

IRBIL, Iraq: A drone strike forced a US company to suspend operations at an oil field in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region Tuesday, amid a wave of similar attacks targeting the region’s energy infrastructure.

The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit, calling the strike “an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure.”

The attack followed a similar drone strike a day earlier in neighboring Irbil province.

HKN Energy, the US company, said Tuesday’s blast occurred at about 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) at one of its production facilities in the Sarsang field.

“Operations at the affected facility have been suspended until the site is secured,” it said in a statement.

A fire broke out following the explosion, which did not cause any casualties.

Emergency response teams have contained the blaze, the company said later in an update.

In the past few weeks, there has been a spate of drone and rocket attacks mostly affecting Kurdistan.

Long plagued by conflict, Iraq has frequently experienced such attacks, often linked to regional proxy struggles.

The explosion in Sarsang field occurred a day after three explosive-laden drone attacks were reported in Kurdistan, with one drone shot down near Irbil airport, which hosts US troops, and another two hitting the Khurmala oil field causing material damage.

There has been no claim of responsibility for those attacks.

But, on July 3, the Kurdistan authorities said a drone was downed near Irbil airport, blaming the Hashed Al-Shaabi – a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitaries now integrated into the regular armed forces.

The federal government in Baghdad rejected the accusation.

The latest attacks come at a time of heightened tension between Baghdad and Irbil over oil exports, with a major pipeline through Turkiye shut since 2023 over legal disputes and technical issues.

In May, Iraq’s federal authorities filed a complaint against the autonomous Kurdistan region for signing gas contracts with two US companies, including HKN Energy.


Syria defense minister announces ceasefire in Druze-majority Sweida

Updated 15 July 2025
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Syria defense minister announces ceasefire in Druze-majority Sweida

  • A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city of Sweida in a bid to halt the violence
  • Syrian troops had begun moving toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village

DAMASCUS: Syria’s defense minister announced a ceasefire in the Druze-majority city of Sweida on Tuesday after government forces entered the city to end deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes.

“To all units operating within the city of Sweida, we declare a complete ceasefire after an agreement with the city’s notables and dignitaries,” Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra posted on X. Clashes had erupted between government forces and Druze fighters after contradictory statements from Druze religious leaders, with most urging fighters to lay down their arms.
Syrian government forces entered the majority Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, aiming to end clashes with Bedouin tribes that have killed nearly 100 people.

The southern city had been under the control of armed factions from the Druze minority, whose religious leaders said they had approved the deployment of Damascus’s troops and called on fighters to hand over their weapons.

A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city in a bid to halt the violence, which erupted at the weekend and has since spread across Sweida governorate.

Government forces said they intervened to separate the two sides but ended up taking control of several Druze areas around Sweida, an AFP correspondent reported.

Military columns were seen advancing toward Sweida on Tuesday morning, with heavy artillery deployed nearby.

The defense ministry said later that they had entered the city, and urged people to “stay home and report any movements of outlaw groups.”

An AFP correspondent heard explosions and gunshots as soldiers moved into Sweida.

Troops had begun heading toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village, with one Druze faction saying talks were underway with the Damascus government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported 99 people killed since the fighting erupted on Sunday — 60 Druze, including four civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.

The defense ministry reported 18 deaths among the ranks of the armed forces.

While Druze religious authorities had called on Monday evening for a ceasefire and said they didn’t oppose the central government, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, opposed the arrival of the security forces and called for “international protection.”

Israel, which has attempted to portray itself as a protector of the Druze in Syria and sees them as potential allies, bombed several Syrian tanks on Monday.

The strikes were “a clear warning to the Syrian regime – we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country has its own Druze population.

The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Syria’s pre-war Druze population was estimated at around 700,000, many of them concentrated in Sweida province.

The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are mainly found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Following deadly clashes with government forces in April and May, local and religious leaders reached an agreement with Damascus under which Druze fighters had been providing security in the province.

“We lived in a state of extreme terror – the shells were falling randomly,” said Abu Taym, a 51-year-old father.

Amal, a 46-year-old woman, said: “We fear a repeat of the coastal scenario,” referring to massacres in March of more than 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians in northwest Syria, where groups affiliated with the government were blamed for most of the killings.

“We are not against the state, but we are against surrendering our weapons without a state that treats everyone the same,” she added.

In a post on X, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra urged his troops to “protect your fellow citizens” from “outlaw gangs,” and to “restore stability to Sweida.”

The violence began on Sunday when Bedouin gunmen abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the highway to Damascus, prompting retaliatory kidnappings.

The Observatory said members of Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslims, had sided with security forces during earlier confrontations with the Druze.

Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two sides.