TUNIS, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Tuesday excluded the possibility of imposing a nationwide lockdown despite the spike in COVID-19 cases, reported the Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
"It is not possible to impose a general lockdown in Tunisia because of the socio-economic difficulties," Mechichi was quoted by the TAP as saying.
"We cannot prevent certain categories of the population from working," Mechichi added.
But he declined to rule out the possibility of changing the curfew hours, saying that the Tunisian scientific committee for the fight against the coronavirus will discuss necessary anti-pandemic measures on Wednesday.
Underscoring the need to respect the health protocol, in particular social distancing and wearing masks, Mechichi called on all Tunisians to register on the EVAX platform to receive vaccine jabs.
Tunisian Health Ministry on Monday night reported 1,133 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 261,177, while the death toll from the virus rose by 28 to 8,993. Enditem
