The Tripoli Ministry of Health strongly condemned attacks on health facilities, the last of which was Al-Khadhra Hospital.
The Ministry called on all local and international humanitarian organizations to move quickly to stop these ‘‘criminal attacks on the capital Tripoli, which target health institutions, most recently this evening, where the Al-Hadba Al-Khadra General Hospital was targeted by missiles. This caused the hospital’s power generator to cut resulting in the evacuation of patients, including those with virus “Coved 19”, which exacerbated the humanitarian health situation in Libya’’.
Saudi Arabia will host an extraordinary meeting by video conference on Friday for energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies “to ensure energy market stability.”
The call is scheduled for 12:00-14:20 GMT on Friday and will follow a virtual meeting on Thursday for OPEC, Russia and other oil producers to discuss cutting output.
The producers are likely to agree to cut output on Thursday but only if the United States joins the effort, three OPEC+ sources stated.
Nearly 140 campaign groups and charities urged the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, G20 governments and private creditors on Tuesday to help the world’s poorest countries through the coronavirus crisis by cancelling debt payments.
The call, spearheaded by the British-based Jubilee Debt Campaign, comes a day before a Group of 20 working group is due to meet, tasked with the coronavirus response for developing countries.
UNICEF’s Special Representative to Libya, Abdel-Rahman Ghandour stated that the U.S. Department of State supports UNICEF in Libya with $1.5 million in funding for health and child protection activities in Tripoli, Misrata, Tawergha, and Benghazi during a virtual meeting attended by the Ambassador Richard Norland.
Mr. Ghandour described UNICEF’s ongoing coordination with the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Health (MoH), the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), and other aid organizations to enhance public awareness of COVID-19 mitigation strategies and strengthen primary healthcare services for children and their families.
UNICEF is coordinating closely with the Ministry of Education to provide distance-learning options to schoolchildren, and the Ministry of Social Affairs to ensure the protection of populations at risk. UNICEF also continues to strengthen basic health, nutrition, and hygiene services for thousands of families in Libya.
As Libya marked one year since the onset of major hostilities in Tripoli, Ambassador Norland and Mr. Ghandour reflected on the many ways in which children are disproportionately affected by the conflict, including exposure to violence, displacement, and a lack of regular access to adequate basic services such as health, education, nutrition, water, and sanitation. They stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the indiscriminate shelling of civilian infrastructure that has killed or maimed several innocent children in the last month alone.
The Italian Foreign Minister thanked the GNA and the Libyan people for their full solidarity with Italy and the medical initiative to send to Rome 30 doctors and assistant doctors in coordination with the National Center for Disease Control so they can provide assistance to Italian medical teams.
During a phone call from his Italian counterpart Luigi di Maio, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Sayala, discussed the efforts to combat the spread of Coronavirus and the latest developments in this regard, especially in Italy, adding that the government and people of Libya stand with Italy until the Italian people overcome this ordeal and that Libya is confident of Italy’s ability to overcome this pandemic.
The Crisis Committee of the Libyan Audit Bureau visited the isolation sites allocated to Coronavirus patients in a number of municipalities such as Alzintan , Zliten, Abu Sera region in Al- Zawia as well as Zuwara.
During the visit, the Committee checked the medical supplies allocated there and stated that the project was approximately 45 to 65% per cent complete.
Yesterday, the Tunisian Ministry of Transport claimed that it has agreed with a marine carrier to organize weekly trips for transporting Tunisian exports to Tripoli through Sfax Port.
According to the Tunisian ministry, the first trip between Tripoli and Sfax ports will take place next week.
The Tunisian Ministry of Transport emphasized the possibility of regulating maritime trade between the two countries. It also clarified that this step was taken in order to support the Tunisian exporters and facilitate transportation operations for those interested to access the Libyan market, by providing maritime transport services to secure the flow of cargo traffic between Tunisia and Libya.
At a press conference last night, Libya’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) revealed that the country’s second Coronavirus case is recovering, adding that the newly refurbished Zaweet Al-Dihmany clinic will be the first point for testing suspected Coronavirus cases.
The National Centre for Disease Control said that they were able to process test results in about 3 hours, a much shorter period of time than many other countries.
It also stressed that social distancing and the commitment to home quarantine are the first steps to the reduction and spread of the Coronavirus. With regards to the possibility of a 24-hour curfew being imposed in Libya, it said that would depend on the rate of spread of the virus.
The dollar lost ground on Tuesday as riskier currencies rebounded on tentative hopes that lockdowns may be slowing the spread of the coronavirus in some countries.
Bets that the world’s biggest crude producers may cut supply to support oil prices also boosted market sentiment.
The greenback – the world’s reserve currency – has swung wildly in recent weeks in volatile trading. But action by central banks to ease a mad scramble for dollars has helped bring some calm to markets.
The dollar was last down 0.7% versus a basket of currencies, mirroring improved risk sentiment across equity markets, with European shares up for a second straight day.
Sterling also rallied, even as traders awaited news on the condition of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is fighting worsening coronavirus symptoms in intensive care.
The forced and illegal restriction of oil and gas production has resulted in financial losses exceeding 3,957,326,455 USD since January 17, 2020. This means the Libyan economy and the nation’s financial reserves are getting weaker every day due to the blockade.
Total oil production inside Libya is down to 89,933 barrels a day, as of April 5, 2020.
The National Oil Corporation stated that many of its facilities were illegally shut-down on 17 January 2020. This resulted in the shutdown of Zawiya refinery, and since then it has had to increase its imports of fuels to meet people’s basic needs.
In a statement published on Facebok, NOC called on all parties within Libya to lift the blockade and re-start oil and gas production, so every Libyan can benefit from a stronger economy and a more steady supply of fuels.
NOC added that it provides fuels to people in Eastern regions via different ports across the coastline, stressing that Tripoli stations are being provided from its port directly and other cities receive their fuel from the ports in the western region.
