Algeria’s new prime minister tests positive for Covid-19

Aymen Benabderrahmane will isolate and work remotely until testing negative

Algeria’s new Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane has tested positive for Covid-19. AFP

Algeria’s newly appointed prime minister has tested positive for Covid-19, state TV in the country said.

Aymen Benabderrahmane will quarantine for a week but will continue to perform his duties remotely.

The North African country has reported 145,296 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 3,824 deaths.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered his government to reimpose physical distancing and mask-wearing measures across the country on Saturday, and to speed up vaccination.

Mr Tebboune, 75, contracted the virus last year and was treated in hospital in Germany for two months before returning to Algeria.

He flew back to Germany on January 10 and underwent a “successful” operation on his foot 10 days later, the presidential office said.

Former finance minister Aymen Benabderrahmane was named the new prime minister last month and formed a new government, which was announced last week.

There were few few changes to important ministry positions.

North Africa is grappling with the spread of the far more infectious Delta variant of Covid-19.

Cases have risen rapidly in Tunisia and hospitals are being overwhelmed.

While many in Algeria, neighbouring Tunisia and elsewhere are still waiting for their first vaccine dose, Israel said it would start giving out booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to at-risk adults. It said it was still considering whether a third round of doses should be given to all.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant has sent vaccination rates in Israel back up. Infections have risen over the past month from single digits to about 450 a day, and the country has moved to fast-track its next Pfizer-BioNTech shipment.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said effective immediately, adults with impaired immune systems who had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could have a booster shot, with a decision pending on wider distribution.

Saudi Arabia, which has also reported a rise in cases in recent weeks, announced that 50 per cent of the country had now received at least one dose of a vaccine.