Coronavirus: Tunisia announces lockdown, people urged to stay indoors

Tunisian President Kais Saied ordered a national lockdown on Friday in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

In a televised address, Saied announed new restrictions on public movement, saying city-to-city travel had been banned.

The president also urged everyone to stay at home during the day, and only go out in cases of "extreme necessity".

So far, authorities in Tunisia have reported 54 cases of the coronavirus, officially known as Covid-19, with one death and around 11,000 people placed in quarantine.

While the number of cases is relatively low compared to other countries, Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh has taken several measures to ensure the country is able to contain the disease.

Tunisia has closed schools, universities cafes and bars, shut its land and maritime borders and suspended international flights to try and slow the spread of the disease.

The outbreak of the disease was labelled a pandemic by the World Health Organisation last week as the worldwide death toll continues to grow. 

Total cases have surpassed 255,000 across 163 countries.