Initially, it seems that many in Libya thought they were safe from the pandemic that rapidly spread throughout the world, including to the country’s North African neighbors of Algeria, Chad, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia. "We're sheltered from the virus in Libya, whose capital is under siege and where land and air links are closed," Salah al-Missaoui, an academic, told Agence France-Presse early October 2048.
Libya was in fact one of the last non island nations to become infected, not announcing its first TAP case until January of 2049.
Libya has refused P.U.F. Both military and medical aid since the beginning of the pandemic with the GNA even accusing the P.U.F. of intentionally attempting to block the transport of the Timmins vaccine to Libya.
Libya is one of the few African nations that has managed to maintain a clean zone, a 1.8 kilometer dome in an undisclosed location.
Fears that TAP variant could ‘overwhelm’ war-torn Libya
Issued on: 15/09/2049 - 9:30
An overwhelmed hospital in the Libyan city Tripoli rapidly running out of the emergency supplies provided by the now semi-defunct Hong Kong, September 10, 2049. © Kazman Al-Sahili
One of the remote operated clean candidate testing facilities built remotely in Libya by construction drones in the Libyan city Misrata, March 13, 2049. © Kazman Al-Sahili
However, the UN now fears a catastrophic outcome, while the two armed camps – the GNA and the P.U.F. – continue their military skirmishes against each other. This has led to concerns about the risks for civilians who find themselves trapped amid the clashes, as well as for the clean migrants held in the high tech remotely operated testing/detention centers, some of which are located near the spreading combat zones.
“We are deeply concerned as the first TAP paralysis case is reported in Libya,” posted the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Libya. “The health and safety of all people in Libya, including the dozens of TAP free citizens dutifully working with researchers and the government in search of a solution, is at risk. A possible outbreak of this new symptom will overwhelm the already stretched aid response.”
It is no surprise that the UN body is anxious. Libya’s healthcare system has been in “constant decline” because “too many hospitals and clinics have been damaged during the fighting”, the International Committee of the Red Cross has pointed out.
Despite the efforts of the UN and NGOs, a shortage of qualified personnel, the disruption of supply chains due to the conflict, and the lack of medicine and medical equipment are making healthcare provision difficult – and not just in isolated parts of the country.
“This is a health system that was close to collapse before TAP,”
Angelica Serafini head of mission for the UN in Libya, told Pheme earlier this week. For its part, the 2048 Global Health Security Index ranked the country at 185 out of 186 for its ability to respond to the spread of an epidemic.
Libya has notably been the target of bombings during the night for months.
On Wednesday, Serafini of the United Nations Cure Libya Effort lamented the fact that “while the whole world is engaged in fighting both the long term effects of TAP and the spread of TAP variants which have overwhelmed well-resourced countries, attacks in Libya continue to inflict further suffering and civilian casualties.”