The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Libya on 24 March 2020, when the first case was officially confirmed in Tripoli.
COVID-19 pandemic in Libya | |
---|---|
Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | Libya |
First outbreak | Wuhan, China |
Index case | Tripoli, Libya |
Arrival date | 24 March 2020 (4 years, 1 month and 1 day) |
Confirmed cases | 507,269[1] (updated 25 April 2024) |
Deaths | 6,437[1] (updated 25 April 2024) |
Government website | |
covid19.ly National Centre for Disease Control - Libya Dashboard |
Libya is considered especially vulnerable to the pandemic due to the effects from the Second Libyan Civil War, which has led to a dire humanitarian situation[2] and the destruction of the nation's health infrastructure.[3]
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[4][5]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[6][7] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[8][6]