A staff member of bacteriological laboratory from Charles Nicolle Hospital makes virus test of the COVID-19 in Tunis, Tunisia, April 10, 2020. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tunisia has risen to 643, including 25 deaths, the Tunisian Minister of Health Abdellatif Mekki announced on Thursday. (Photo by Adele Zzine/Xinhua)
TUNIS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tunisia has risen to 643, including 25 deaths, the Tunisian Minister of Health Abdellatif Mekki announced on Thursday.
Following a total of 692 lab tests conducted on Wednesday, 33 new cases were confirmed to be infected with the virus, said the minister at a press briefing.
"The number of deaths has doubled in a few days, going from 12 cases on April 1, to 25 on Thursday," Rim Abdelmalek, a professor of infectious diseases at La Rabta Hospital told Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
"This acceleration in deaths is indicative of the rapid evolution of the spread of COVID-19 in Tunisia," warned Abdelmalek.
The increase in the number of deaths is explained by the non respect, by a number of citizens, of the general safety and health rules to deal with the new coronavirus, according to Abdelmalek.
