Hundreds of Tunisians staged Sunday protests in several cities of the North African country to boycott the new general lockdown measures in place to curb contaminations of the COVID-19 virus. The government’s decision of nation-wide night curfew and general lockdown for one week, starting May 9 and covering Eid al-Fitr came into effect Sunday but met rejections. The North African country on May 08 reported 1,301 new cases bringing the toll of contaminations to 320,813 while the fatalities count has hit 11,429. The pandemic situation has compounded the economic condition of the country which is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a loan. Tunisia’s economy contracted by 8.8% last year as the pandemic hit the vital tourism sector.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 10, 2021 12:33 UTC