By Sami Zaptia.
London, 13 March 2020:
Tunisia today imposed a 14-day self-isolation policy on travellers arriving from all countries – without exception.
It also closed its maritime borders and suspended all flights from Italy and reduced other flights to a bare minimum. There will be one daily flight to France, a weekly flight to Egypt, Germany and the UK. It is still unclear what will be the situation regarding flights from and to Libya.
The decision came as the Corona Virus (Covid 19) cases in Tunisia rose to 16 today. Libya officially insists that it still has no positive cases yet.
The isolation policy will hit Libyans and Libya hard as Tunis airport is the transit hub and setting off point for most Libyans living in the west and south – to the rest of the world.
Moreover, most embassies to Libya have relocated to Tunis and most international organizations use the country as their base. Libyan politicians from both sides of the political divide use Tunisia as their neutral meeting point.
On another level, many Libyans travel to Tunisia for medical care, holiday and business.
Meanwhile, the Tripoli based Libyan government today suspended education at all levels for 14 days from Sunday to mitigate the possible spread of Corona Virus. The eastern based Libyan government has also suspended education and banned shisha cafes.
