Italy said Thursday it was sending more than 25 tons of ventilators, masks, surgical gowns, disposable gloves and hand gel to Tunisia to help it battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, Tunisia had one of the highest per capital COVID-19 infection rates in Africa.
The Italian Foreign Ministry said that several ships will ferry the aid to the nation across the Mediterranean, with the first vessel having departed from Naples.
The ministry said the assistance reflects its “friendship and solidarity to the Tunisian people.”
The surge in infections, which is partly driven by the presence of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus in 21 African countries, is leaving a "brutal cost in lives lost" in its trail, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, told a briefing on Thursday.
Deaths have climbed steeply for the past five weeks to 6,273 last week, just a percentage point shy of its weekly peak recorded in January.
"This is a clear warning sign that hospitals in the most impacted countries are reaching a breaking point," Moeti said.
Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia accounted for the bulk of the fatalities, WHO said.
