Tunisia bans New Year celebrations over COVID-19

Cairo: Tunisia has banned New Year celebrations and extended a partial curfew to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi said that authorities will ban big gatherings including the New Year celebrations and extend a nighttime curfew until mid-January. The curfew, which has been in place since October 1, was due to end on December 30.

Authorities have banned movement among areas of the country except in emergency cases.

On Monday, Tunisia announced suspending flights with Britain, South Africa and Australia due to concerns over a new strain of the virus. No cases of the new variant have been detected in the North African country, according to the minister.

Tunisia so far has recorded a tally of 123,323 virus cases and 4,199 related deaths.