Italian Embassy in Tunisia announces its temporary closure due to coronavirus

The new coronavirus is putting diplomacy and the lives of diplomatic personnel in many countries in difficulty. The Italian Embassy in Tunis announced its temporary closure due to the coronavirus emergency, after some of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. Previously, Belgium and Germany also closed their embassies in Tunis due to the virus.

“To protect the health of users and employees and to carry out a new sanitation of the premises, the offices of the Embassy and the Consular Chancellery will remain temporarily closed starting from 1 October until further notice.” The Embassy said in a statement, adding that any appointments already fixed are postponed.

It will be possible to make a new appointment as soon as health conditions allow the offices to reopen. You can contact the offices by e-mail to report emergencies

the offices of the Embassy and the Consular Chancellery

The checks would be started after an embassy employee who had traveled to Italy in late September was preparing to return to Tunis, testing positive for the new coronavirus. In fact, since last month to enter Tunisia, it is necessary to present a test for the coronavirus, carried out maximum 48 hours before the trip or arrival at the airport. Following the examinations, the embassy found at least three other contagions, including the ambassador’s assistant and two external employees. That forced the ambassador and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to opt for the closure of the diplomatic office in the North African country.

Previously, travelers arriving in Tunisia from Italy were not obliged to quarantine. But the exponential increase in infections in the second wave of the pandemic, recorded in September, led Tunisian authorities to reintroduce mandatory one-week isolation.

The worrying growth of daily coronavirus cases continues in Tunisia, wherein 24 hours 1,308 new infections were recorded, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the North African country to 19,721. According to the latest data of the Ministry of Health, the new coronavirus death toll has risen to 271, 6 in 24 hours. Of the people who still test positive, 347 are in hospital, 99 in intensive care, and 41 in assisted breathing. The swabs carried out by Tunisia since the beginning of the epidemic are 238,671.

Due to the rapid spread of the virus, the authorities decreed the measure of the night curfew in the cities of Sousse, Monastir, and Sidi Bouzid for 15 days. According to the ministry, at least 450 medical and health personnel have already contracted the virus from the beginning of the pandemic.