50% of Algerian healthcare workers are infected with COVID-19

The Algerian National Society of Immunology has confirmed that half of the health sector workers in the country are infected with COVID-19.

Kamel Janouhat, the head of the association, said that 50% of the medical staff are now out of service due to the virus.

This situation is unprecedented in Algeria, says Janouhat, indicating that the consequences have already reflected on national health institutions, operating in precarity and a critical situation.

He stated that the medical staffs are “redoubling efforts to ensure care for patients amid a shortage of nurses.”

The president additionally said that “the management of this situation is difficult due to the low number of staff, as almost all services are affected by this situation.”

He spoke of the “stress, exhaustion, and tension” experienced by the medical staff who are at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic are “on the verge of complete exhaustion.”

The Algerian National Syndicate of Public Health Practitioners recently raised the alarm regarding the “very difficult situation in Algerian hospitals,” drawing the attention of the guardianship authority to the immense stress experienced by health workers in the country.

Experts noted that this situation will not improve soon, given the explosion of daily infection rates.

Algeria has not faced such records since the emergence of the pandemic in 2020, which has been exacerbated by the new Delta and Omicron mutants.