By Reuters Staff

       1 Min Read

       TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisia’s Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has been infected with the coronavirus, the government said on Friday.

       Mechichi received a COVID-19 vaccine last month.

       The prime minister will cancel his meetings and continue to work remotely, the government statement added.

       Tunisia is seeing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, with intensive care wards almost full, health authorities said adding that the situation is catastrophic.

       After successfully containing the virus in the first wave last year, Tunisia is grappling with a rise in infections. The positive cases rate now is 36%.

       In total, Tunisia has recorded 395,000 coronavirus cases and about 14,406 deaths.

       Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Andrew Heavens

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