Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi decided on Saturday to impose a general lockdown in the north-central governorate of Kairouan, following the deterioration of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.
According to a statement released by the government, the general lockdown shall be imposed if the infection rate of a governorate reaches 400 cases out of every 100,000 inhabitants, effective from Sunday.
"Regional quarantine centres will be created to accommodate positive cases and field hospitals will be set up for the management of cases, with the supply of oxygen and the organisation of screening campaigns taken into account," the government statement said.
Laboratories will also be strengthened to help identify the COVID-19 variant in Kairouan, it added.
Tunisian Health Ministry on Saturday reported 2,193 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the North African country to 381,175.
The death toll from the virus rose by 86 to 13,960, while the total number of recoveries reached 331,910, according to a ministry statement.
A total of 1,605,326 lab tests have been carried out in Tunisia so far.
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