Primary and secondary schools in Tunisia are to close for 12 days as part of new measures against coronavirus.

A huge surge of infections over the past month has seen cases increase by more than 1,000 per day.

Close to 1,000 people have died since the virus hit Tunisia in March – and most of those deaths have been in the past two months alone.

The Tunisian government still appears to be trying to avoid another lockdown in the country but the latest measures are edging closer to the restrictions imposed back in March.

At present:

Inter-city travel is banned
Public gatherings limited to a maximum of four people
Nationwide weekday curfew from 20:00 to 05:00
Nationwide weekend curfew hours are 19:00 to 05:00
Restaurants and cafes to close at 16:00
Nurseries and kindergartens however remain open

Earlier this week Tunisia’s health officials said that in parts of the country, hospitals treating Covid-19 patients had reached full capacity.