Tunisia resumed its land, sea, and air borders fort the first time in over three months on Saturday after the country announced that it had brought the coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak under control.
A few operations resumed at the Tunis-Carthage airport, with the flights to Rome, Paris and Geneve scheduled to depart. The government ended all the restrictions of the movement and also businesses following the announcement of Prime Minister Elyes FakhfakHon June 14 that Tunisia won the fight against the spread of the virus.
Tunisia Relaxes COVID-19 Restrictions
However, the pandemic has severely impacted the tourism sector, which contributes nearly 10 percent of gross domestic product and is a key source of foreign currency. Tourism revenue in the first five months of 2020 have declined by about 50 percent compared with the same period in 2019 as hotels and resorts have been left empty as a result of lockdowns and border closures. Latest figures show that Tunisia has had 1,064 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 50 deaths.
The North African country's economy is expected to shrink as much as seven percent this year due to the impact of the pandemic, the worst recession in nearly 60 years, investment minister Slim Azzabi has said. Unemployment will increase by 275,000, according to a government study in partnership with the United Nations, he added.
(With agency inputs)
