![Tunisian scouts carry out disinfection works against coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Tunis, Tunisia on November 11, 2020 [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/d2.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/20201105_2_45218106_59515725.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Tunisia will impose a four-day national lockdown from Thursday along with lesser measures lasting until January 24 to combat a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Fouzi Mehdi said on Tuesday.
“The situation is very critical and the vaccination will not come before February,” Mehdi said.
Other measures will include rotating staffing in-state jobs to reduce people in offices and transport, school closures, longer curfew hours, and the removal of all chairs from cafes.
On Monday Tunisia announced a new record high for confirmed cases in a day of 3,074 and said the intensive care units in most public hospitals were full.
Thursday is a national holiday to mark the anniversary of Tunisia’s revolution a decade ago when it threw off autocratic rule for democracy.
An earlier lockdown in the spring successfully contained the coronavirus but caused great financial pain in a country where economic woes have undermined faith in successive democratic governments.
READ: Tunisia PM cancels trip to Italy after minister gets covid
President Kais Saied has called for a partial lockdown in the regions experiencing rapid infection.
Tunisia banned travel among the country’s regions and extended a nightly curfew in October, as it tried to contain the pandemic.
The new curfew will be from 4 pm to 6 am