Algeria: President Tebboune Hospitalised, in ‘Stable’ Condition

Presidency statement does not specify cause of hospitalisation, which comes days after 75-year-old went into self-isolation following coronavirus cases among his aides.

Tebboune, 75, said on Saturday he was self isolating after several senior aides tested positive for the coronavirus [File: Ramzi Boudina/Reuters]

27 Oct 2020

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been hospitalised, his office said, days after he went into self-isolation after coronavirus cases among his aides.

Tebboune, 75, was moved on Tuesday to a specialised unit at a military hospital in the capital, Algiers, on the recommendation of his doctors.

“His health is stable and does not cause any concern, and he is continuing his daily activities from the treatment centre,” a statement from the presidency carried by the official APS news agency said, without stating if he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Tebboune said on Saturday he was self-isolating after several senior aides were diagnosed with COVID-19. “I assure you, my brothers and sisters, that I am well and healthy and that I continue my work,” he was quoted as saying at the time.

If his illness is confirmed as COVID-19, he would be among a small group of world leaders to have fallen sick from the disease including US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Tebboune’s hospitalisation comes at a critical moment in his efforts to turn a page on last year’s massive street protests that forced his predecessor, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, from power after 20 years.

Elected in December last year, Tebboune has pushed for a new constitution that limits presidential terms and gives more powers to the Parliament and judiciary. It will be put to a referendum on Sunday.

The coronavirus pandemic struck Algeria’s economy as it faced long-term challenges posed by the decline of the oil and gas revenues that finance its historically lavish state spending.

So far, Algeria has officially confirmed more than 55,000 cases of the coronavirus, with nearly 2,000 deaths.

SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES