The Libyan National Center for Disease Control said Sunday it had registered 14 new Covid-19 cases after running 370 tests across its laboratories in the country.
The Libyan National Center for Disease Control said the number of cases had jumped in Libya to 270 Coronavirus cases across the country.
The center added in its statement that one of the previously infected cases had recovered as well.
The Ministry of Health stated that doctors at the Department of Internal Care at the University Hospital, Tripoli, in coordination with the Central Blood Bank on Al-Shatt Road, and the monitoring team of the National Center for Disease Control started a blood plasma separation program from patients recovering from Coronavirus in order to benefit from them in the treatment of critical cases of COVID-19.
The university hospital administration in Tripoli said that four doctors prepared the protocol for separations and plasma operations after obtaining the necessary approvals from the Medical Ethics Committee and the National Center for Disease Control.
Moreover, the medical team called on patients recovering from the Coronavirus to contact the monitoring and investigation teams of the National Center for Disease Control to coordinate the donation of blood plasma to contribute to the treatment of those infected with COVID-19.
The Presidential Council has extended lockdown rules as coronavirus cases continue to spread in the region despite preventive measures to contain it.
“Curfew will continue for another ten days from 6 pm-6 am starting from Sunday, in all areas of the south as well as movement between the cities,” the decree stated.
According to the Presidential Council’s statement, mosques and malls, in addition to other stores that do not provide essential services, such as clothing, shoes, cafes, and restaurants will remain closed, as well as all religious, national, and social gatherings and events, according to the new order.
Libya’s largest oil field Sharara restarted production this weekend, after the 300,000 b/d site was shut-in for almost five months due to an oil blockade, stateowned National Oil Corporation said June 7.
Libyan production of 400,000 b/d could be online soon as the 75,000 b/d El Feel oil field is also likely to open soon, sources said.
NOC said the Sharara field restarted on June 6 beginning at a capacity of 30,000 b/d.
“Production at the field is expected to return to full capacity within 90 days due to the damages resulted by the very long shutdown,” NOC said in a statement.
S&P Global Platts, a provider of energy and commodities information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical commodity markets stated that a key pipeline valves which connect the Sharara and El Feel fields with the Zawiya export terminal and refinery reopened on June 5, paving the way for a resumption of crude output.
The restart occurred just as the OPEC+ alliance agreed to extend 9.6 million b/d of production cuts to July, brushing aside Mexico’s defection from the pact and receiving pledges of improved compliance from Iraq, Nigeria, Angola and Kazakhstan
Libya is currently exempted from the historic cuts, and any new production could complicate efforts by the 23-member coalition to rebalance the market.
Libyan crude production was around 70,000-80,000 b/d until a few days ago, less than a tenth of what it was producing before Jan.18 when the LNA orchestrated an oil port blockade. Output was the lowest level since September 2011, when a civil war tore the country apart and led to the downfall of Colonel Moammar Qadhafi.
There is also a concern that GNA’s move eastwards, especially toward the eastern oil crescent where the key oil terminals are located, could pave the way for more conflict and instability.
Bloomberg reported that Libya’s biggest oilfield is gradually resuming production after a five-month shutdown as regional powers push to end the country’s civil war.
The restart of the Sharara field in the southwest comes after “lengthy negotiations” with militants to reopen a valve closed in January, the state-run National Oil Corporation said Sunday.
Production will resume at an initial 30,000 barrels per day and take three months to return to full capacity due to damage caused by the shutdown, it said in a statement.
Sharara was producing around 300,000 barrels before the cutoff amid an offensive by Khalifa Haftar, who leads a rebel military force based in the country’s east.
The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously extended for a year a resolution authorizing the inspection of ships suspected of breaking a 2011 arms embargo on Libya.
The renewal had already been unanimously decided upon last year by the 15 members of the Security Council, but Russia, which backs strongman Khalifa Haftar in his fight against the UN-backed government in Tripoli, had expressed doubts in talks at the beginning of the month, diplomats said.
For the past year, there have been constant violations of the embargo on both sides of the war, making it a “farce,” one diplomat said.
The European naval Operation Irini, launched at the start of April using aerial surveillance and satellite tracking, aims to strengthen the UN resolution on controlling arms shipments to Libya.
Drafted by Germany, the resolution “decides to extend the authorizations as set out in resolution 2473 for a further 12 months from the date of this resolution,” and requested the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council within 11 months of its adoption.
The authorization for inspections on the high seas is also linked to other resolutions, such as 2292 and 2146. The latter, which was renewed in March, aims to prevent the illegal import or export of oil to or from Libya.
After a French naval vessel recently intercepted a tanker seeking to load up at the eastern port of Tobruk without permission from Tripoli, as part of the Irini operation, Russia called for a meeting of the Security Council to demand an explanation.
Germany and France said at that session at the start of the week that Operation Irini was being carried out within the strict framework of the UN resolution.
Turkey may expand its cooperation with Libya’s internationally recognised government with new deals on energy and construction once the country’s conflict is over, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Turkey backs Fayez al Serraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) and has provided it with military support after signing a cooperation accord last year. The two also signed a maritime demarcation agreement in the eastern Mediterranean that Greece and other regional actors have rejected.
Kalin said Turkey’s cooperation with the GNA may expand to other areas after the war is over.
Libya’s ambassador to the UN Taher el-Sonni on Saturday called for a UN investigation into the death of scores of people in the city of Tarhuna.
The demand came in a phone call between el-Sonni and Rosemary A. DiCarlo, UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
“In a phone call with USG political affairs Rosemary DeCarlo, we asked an immediate investigation by UNSMIL with regards to the bodies found today in Tarhuna hospital, more than 106 civilians including children and women many seem to be executed by shots in the head,” el-Sonni said on Twitter.
Amin al-Hashemi, a spokesman for the Libyan Health Ministry, said signs of torture were found on most of the corpses, including women and children.
The Libyan National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported on Saturday 30 new coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Libya to 239.
The 30 new coronavirus cases include 18 from Sabha, 10 from Tripoli, 1 from Surman, 1 from Misurata returning from Sabha
The NCDC added that the last batch of 635 suspected cases, showing 30 positive, while the other cases are negative.
Libya currently has 182 active cases under medical observation, and 52 successful recoveries.
Oil prices rose on Friday after an unexpected fall in the May U.S. jobless rate and OPEC’s decision to bring forward to Saturday discussions on whether to extend record production cuts.
Brent crude futures settled up $2.31, or 5.8%, at $42.30 a barrel, surging 19.2% on the week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.14, or 5.7%, to $39.55 a barrel, rising 10.7% on the week.
The U.S. Labor Department reported a surprise fall in the jobless rate to 13.3% last month from 14.7% in April.
Brent has risen 17% since May 29 to reach a three-month high, in a range more comfortable for producers like Russia. The contract has more than doubled since crashing as low as $15.98 a barrel on April 22. WTI is up 11%.
Russia’s energy ministry said a video conference of a group of leading oil producers, known as OPEC+, would be held on Saturday.