In Tunisia, disregarding medical instructions and fatally infecting another person with coronavirus now carries a manslaughter charge. Although cases are still relatively low – only 624 confirmed infections and 24 deaths in a population of 11.5 million – the country is not taking any chances. It has and put in place strict measures to stop its fragile public healthcare system being overwhelmed.
Tunis enforced a 12-hour curfew on March 17 when only 29 cases had been detected. Three days later that became a nationwide lockdown limiting all but essential travel throughout the day.
The swift measures, at least for now, appear to be keeping new infections to a minimum although detection remains an issue as testing is not carried out widely.
The swift action has earned praise from some Tunisians.
"Other countries have been putting much more effort to fight against the virus, but I think our government is doing its best,” Ezzeddine Hazel, a security guard with the national water company said. “It's a humble effort, but I think it's the best it can do,” Mr Hazel, a resident of rural Medenine in Tunisia’s south, said.
But the slow spread may itself be undermining the government’s efforts. Police had detained 1,973 people for breaking curfew as of Wednesday and a further 600 for breaking movement restrictions at other times.
“There’s a problem with people… they are not helping the government by staying at home,” he said. But one factor, Ezzeddine, who has a special pass to continue his duties during the curfew, said, was money.
"The whole situation is complicated. Some of these people need to leave their houses on a daily basis to work, or else they would not have anything to eat," he told The National.
While Tunisian doctors are respected and professional, its public medical system is aging and fragile in contrast to many of the exclusive private medical hospitals who have historically provided a lucrative source of revenue for the country from medical tourism.
As of 2016, Tunisia was spending about 7 per cent of its GDP on health care but the public system is in dire need of modernisation.
The death of 15 newborn babies at a public hospital in Tunis in March of last year highlighted the shortfalls in care that remains, with images of crumbling buildings and unsanitary conditions flooding Tunisian social media.
Tunisia's healthcare system has not been tested with a major virus emergencies since a cholera outbreak in 1850 – avoiding the outbreaks of Mers that hit other Middle Eastern countries in 2012 and the Ebola outbreak that ravaged large parts of West Africa after 2013 remained a remote threat.
Between the public and private sector, there are about 500 ICU beds but almost all are in hospitals on the northern coast.
A statistical model published to the online platform Medium on Wednesday by a team of Tunisian Doctors and statisticians suggested Tunisia's healthcare system risked being overwhelmed by June, well in advance of a projected peak in August 2020, when 2,500 people could be in need of ICU beds.
"The government acted swiftly, and that gained time, but it's how you use that time which is critical," Dr Amine Ghrabi, one of the authors of the Medium report, told The National. "We need to build capacity, to reach out to the private sector and build partnerships ahead of the peak."
Another model, published by independent Tunisian investigative website Inkyfada, put the saturation point much closer. Their prediction, based on the increase in infections during the early stages of the outbreak, suggested the country’s intensive care units risked becoming overrun by the middle of April.
The scale of the threat is lost on few people.
But many of those now in isolation at home say they’re doing what they can within their rapidly shrinking world.
“I’ve never really been busier,” Jihen Nabi, a 28 year old pricing specialist with a multinational company, said. “I quickly adapted to homeworking. I just do all my usual work during the day, before switching to online classes for my Masters in the evening.
“I’m an introvert. Tunisians are a loving people, they’re always standing way too close and wanting to touch you. I like this. This is how life should be.”
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
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Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Meydan race card
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh125,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh170,000 (D) 1,900m
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 (D)1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E666hp%20at%206%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E850Nm%20at%202%2C300-4%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQ1%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh1.15%20million%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Martin Sabbagh profile
Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
Studied: Corporate finance
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