Tunisia's foreign minister tests positive for COVID-19

By Adel Bin Ibrahim Bin Elha Elthabti and Ali Makram Ghareeb

TUNIS (AA) - Tunisia's foreign minister tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

“My COVID-19 test was positive today, although I complied with health protocols and adhered to all measures,” Othman Jerandi said on Twitter.

He said he had severe symptoms and urged people to protect themselves from the virus.

“This has made me more insistent on the supply of vaccines to protect my country's people from the pandemic,” he added.

Tunisia has reported more than 197,000 infections and over 6,200 deaths from the virus, according to a tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University. More than 144,000 people have recovered.

The pandemic has claimed more than 2.12 million lives in 192 countries and regions since originating in China in December 2019.

Over 99.13 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries over 54.69 million, according to Johns Hopkins.

The US, India and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of cases.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar