The United Nations Libya mission condemned a shelling attack on Thursday that it said killed four girls and young women hours after international pleas for a humanitarian pause to help with the fight against the coronavirus.
It said in a tweet that the four, aged 14 to 20, as well as five others including an 11-year-old, were hit during “indiscriminate shelling affecting a civilian neighborhood in Ain Zara, reportedly by LNA forces.”
Under the adopted precautionary measures to face COVID-19, the Libyan Audit Bureau issued a decision to decrease its staffing by half so they can be weekly divided as required.
It should be reminded that Libya has not yet confirmed any cases of the Coronavirus.
Libya’s National Centre for Disease Control has launched a direct follow-up website on the spread of Coronavirus in Libya.
The online dashboard shows the map of Libya, data about all confirmed and suspected cases, as well as the number of samples examined.
An official source in the Centre reported that the website supervisor will soon launch an app in order to deliver up-to-date figures on the pandemic in Libya.
URL: http://covid19.ly
Today, a top International Monetary Fund official said that the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic will be “quite severe,” but a long expansionary period and high employment rates mean the global economy should weather the current shock.
Martin Muehleisen, who heads the IMF’s strategy policy and review department, said in an IMF podcast that the main goal for governments should be to limit the spread of the virus in a way that provides confidence that the economic shock will be temporary.
He added that banks and governments had already taken unprecedented measures to provide liquidity to markets and keep them functioning, “maybe more than we needed,” but such steps should be coordinated internationally to amplify their effect.
“The better organized and the more coordinated the health responses to this crisis, the more quickly it may be possible that confidence returns,” he said.
Leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations last week said they would do “whatever it takes” to respond to the outbreak, but provided no specifics, which left markets unsettled.
Today, as a precautionary measure, gold as well as money markets were closed in Zliten city. Nevertheless, groupings were prohibited too in order to avoid coronavirus infections.
Today, within the emergency plan put by the Presidential Council to face Coronavirus spread, mayors of greater Tripoli municipalities addressed the National Security of Tripoli through a statement to ask for their support in imposing a curfew in Tripoli starting from the evening to the dawn of the next day.
The statement, that “Sada” newspaper got a copy of it, included six municipalities; Tajoura Municipality, Ainzara Municipily, Hay Al Andalus Municipality, Municipality of Tripoli Center, Abou Salim Municipality, as well as the Municipality of Suq Aljuma.
Today, U.S. oil prices rose 10% after a three-day sell-off as the spread of the coronavirus and a battle for market share between Saudi Arabia and Russia drove prices to their lowest in almost 20 years.
Benchmark Brent, which has lost half its value in less than two weeks, got some respite as investors across financial markets assessed the impact of massive central bank stimulus measures.
Brent crude LCOc1 was up 93 cents, or 3.8%, at $25.81 a barrel by 14:16 GMT, having plunged to $24.52 on Wednesday, its lowest since 2003.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained $2.20, or 10.8%, to $22.57 after dropping nearly 25% to an 18-year low in the previous session.
Saudi Arabia, however, de facto leader of OPEC, has since kicked off a price war with Russia, planning to increase supply to a record high 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) for months.
Minister of Economy, Ali al-Issawi declared the possibility of taking additional, required and exceptional measures not only to guarantee that the spread of COVID-19 will not affect the Libyan economy, but also to ensure the availability of food and medicine.
Al-Issawi also confirmed the formation of a Joint Commission with the private sector that aims to study the effects of the new epidemic on the Libyan sector, as well as to submit recommendations to the state so it takes the necessary measures.
The minister added that the state has a sufficient storage of commodities, and recommended citizens to purchase one month commodities so as to avoid overcrowding in the marketplace.
In light of the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis, Libya’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture called on all commercial businesses, in particular food and medical stores not to hoard goods or manipulate the prices of products.
“Tabadul” managed to obtain a copy of the Chamber’s statement in which they emphasized that products in storage are a fully sufficient to meet the market’s demand for a period exceeding two months. Moreover, the statement ensured consumers that measures have been put into place in order to guarantee the flow of supplies into the local market, urging them not to be dragged behind the rumors.
Today, the Minister of Interior of the Libyan Interim Government, Ibrahim Boshnaf, issued strict instructions to prohibit the entry of individuals through all outlets.
This decision came after suspending all air, sea and land voyages starting from today, in anticipation of Coronavirus spread.
The decision excludes medical emergencies, shipments as well as internal flights.
