TUNIS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A health official in Tunisia on Friday announced that public hospitals are well prepared to receive COVID-19 patients in case of a possible second wave, reported Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
"The coronavirus response plan still provides for the anticipation of actions to be able to cope with a possible second wave of the pandemic," TAP quoted as saying the director general of health at the Ministry of Health, Tahar Gargah.
Gargah announced the creation of a COVID-19 vaccination committee made up of experts from different medical and scientific specialties, such as virology, epidemiology, and immunology.
He added that this committee, which began its work last week, is responsible for "identifying those at risk who should be vaccinated first, once the COVID-19 vaccine is discovered, validated and brought to market."
On Friday, the Tunisian Ministry of Health reported 14 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,656.
The ministry said in a statement that a total of 1,251 patients in Tunisia have recovered from the coronavirus, which has killed 51 so far.
A total of 102,041 lab tests have been carried out in Tunisia since March 2, when the first COVID-19 case was reported in the country.
The Tunisian government has imposed strict confinement measures shortly after the announcement of the first coronavirus case.
The North African country has received several batches of medical aid from the Chinese government, Chinese foundations and companies since late March to help its fight against the pandemic. Enditem
