Coronavirus in a Conflict Zone

Health authorities in war-torn Libya have confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country amid a weeks-long oil blockade that has slashed funding to a healthcare system already gutted by years of conflict. The National Centre for Disease Control identified the patient as a 73-year-old man who had returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia via Tunisia on March 5. It said he is now receiving medical treatment for his fever and cough in isolation at a healthcare facility in the capital, Tripoli. In another blow to the government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus, clashes resumed along the capital’s southern front on Tuesday, a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged restraint.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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