Tunisia announces 1st COVID-19 death

Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-20 02:21:09|Editor: huaxia

TUNIS, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Nissaf Ben Alaya, director general of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases, announced Thursday the first death from COVID-19 in Tunisia.

"The case is an elderly woman, who died Wednesday while she was in the ambulance near Farhat Hashad Hospital in the city of Sousse in eastern Tunisia," the private radio station Mosaique FM quoted the health official as saying.

"Following the lab tests conducted on her body, it was confirmed that she was infected with COVID-19," added Ben Alaya.

The health official revealed that the case had been placed under quarantine after her return from Turkey.

Earlier, Tunisian health ministry said that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tunisia has risen to 39, including 14 local and 25 imported cases.

Tunisian Minister of Health Abdellatif Mekki on Wednesday confirmed that the first case of COVID-19 in Tunisia was recovered. Enditem

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