Cases of coronavirus in Libya increase amid fears that it could ‘overwhelm’ the country
5452 Mins Read
Libya confirmed five more cases of the coronavirus bringing the total to eight.
Many observers are fearing the worst after the first coronavirus case was recorded in Libya on March 24, with two rival governments fighting to take control of the country and a health system that has been on its knees for nearly a decade amid the chaos that followed the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.
New #COVID19 cases in Libya since last update less than 24 hours ago: 5
Libya’s first coronavirus patient has been placed in isolation in a hospital in the capital Tripoli, according to the health minister in Fayez al-Sarraj’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). The patient is a 73-year-old man who entered Libya through Tunisia in early March after staying in Saudi Arabia. His direct entourage – consisting of more than 20 people – tested negative, local media reported.
Initially, it seems that many in Libya thought they were safe from the pandemic that has spread throughout the world, including to the country’s North African neighbours. “We’re sheltered from the virus in Libya, whose capital is under siege and where land and air links are closed,” Moayed al-Missaoui, an academic, told Agence France-Presse earlier in March.
However, the UN now fears a catastrophic outcome, while the two armed camps – Sarraj’s GNA and Field Marshal Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) – continue their military operations against each other. This has led to concerns about the risks for civilians who find themselves trapped amid the clashes, as well as for migrants held in detention centres, some of which are located near combat zones.
“We are deeply concerned as the first #COVID19 case is reported in Libya,” tweeted the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Libya. “The health and safety of all people in Libya, including 345,000 of the most vulnerable, is at risk. A possible outbreak will overwhelm the already stretched aid response.”
In a sign of their shared awareness of the potential gravity of the situation, both the GNA (whose powerbase is in Tripoli) and the LNA (based in eastern Libya) had anticipated the arrival of the coronavirus by taking preventive measures, imposing night time curfews and closing some public places.
The GNA health ministry urged all medical staff on March 26 to go and work on the frontline in hospitals, where healthcare workers have already been mobilised to be ready for a potential coronavirus pandemic. The GNA also announced that several quarantine sites, including two in Tripoli, will be set up to isolate people infected with the disease.
