Today, Libyans rushed to stock up on food for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan before a curfew starts in the capital Tripoli and other western areas aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus.

The coronavirus adds to the fears and anxieties of residents tired after years of conflict that have seen the huge north African country divided into rival governments.

Despite calls by the United Nations for a ceasefire to allow Libya’s fragmented and overstretched health system to prepare to fight the COVID-19 disease, fighting has intensified since the LNA lost four towns in western Libya.