The official spokesman for the customs office, Brigadier General Haitham Al-Zannad, confirmed in a statement to “JDD”, that it was decided, starting fromTuesday, February 23, 2021, that all border crossings between Tunisia and Algeria will be completely closed to the movement of goods and people, at the request of the Algerian side.
A precautionary step from Algeria
Al-Zannad explained that the Algerian authorities informed their counterpart at the border crossings between Tunisia and Algeria that it was decided to suspend the movement of people and goods between the two countries at the various border crossings without mentioning the reasons, but unofficial information indicates that this procedure is related to the new mutated strain of the Coronavirus that that was announced last Saturday, February 20, in Tunisia.
The necessary measures have been taken at all crossings to avoid overcrowding and directing goods towards the Tunisian-Algerian border crossings, according to Al-Zannad.
Tunisia recorded two cases of a new mutated strain of Corona virus, in both Bardo and Al-Marsa, according to what was confirmed by the Director of the Pasteur Institute Hechmi Louzir, Saturday 20 February 2021, to “JDD”.
He added that the new strain carries 4 or 5 variants of the protein-F gene segmentation, like the strains that were discovered in Britain, Brazil and South Africa.
It is noteworthy that transport traffic between Tunisia and Algeria has been suspended for months due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, and Algeria continues to close its land borders.
