May 24, 2013
TUNIS (TAP) - "No new cases of Coronavirus (nCOV) have been detected in Tunisia except for the case of the patient who had died last May 10, Minister of HealthAbdellatif Mekki said on Thursday.
The Minister recalled that the man, who had returned fromthe Gulf, died of acute respiratory failure and that his son and daughter who were also infected by the same virus received necessary treatment and recovered completely.
"The Ministry of Health, which has taken every precaution to deal with the virus, will not hesitate to report on newcases of infection in total transparency," the Minister indicated at a press conference held on Thursday in Tunis.
Regarding the ministry's response strategy, Mekki announced that a national monitoring committee has beencreated for this purpose.
It is composed of specialists in public health, respiratory diseases and epidemiology in addition to concernedstructures.
He also said that a guidebook has been published on the detection and treatment of the virus as well as preventivemeasures taken in hospitals to avoid contamination and raising awareness of people travelling from and to the Omra.
The guidebook also contains recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the detection of the virus among people exposed to the disease or their families, the purchase of reagents needed to identify the virus and organisation of media awareness campaigns to introduce the virus and preventive measures to be taken to be protected from it.
A pamphlet on prevention methods will be distributed to the public and to people who will travel to the Holy Shrines.
Moreover, the Minister said difficulties faced by the health system in Tunisia are mainly financial resulting from the decrease of the budget earmarked to the sector.
The budget allocated to the sector decreased by 10 thousand billions between 1994 and 2010. "It is a considerableamount with which 33 hospitals similar to Charles Nicolle would have been created," he indicated.
Noureddine Ben Achour, Director General of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases said 43 cases of Coronavirus infections was reported in the world, including two cases in Tunisia, and 20 deaths.
He said the rate of transmission of the disease remains lower.
Necessary preventive measures to avoid the spread of this virus are the same usual hygiene measures for all respiratory diseases. They involve taking precautions against people coming from the Middle East who have cold-like symptoms.
He added that there is no specific treatment to this disease and that patients only receives a symptomatic treatment.
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