TUNIS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Health Ministry has fixed the self-isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 to five days, while for those with persistence of symptoms, the confinement will be increased to seven days, a statement released by the ministry said on Thursday.
"Returning to work after the period of sanitary confinement, in both the public and private sectors, is mandatory without presentation of a negative PCR test," reads the statement.
The ministry said that Tunisian Health Ministry reported 12,698 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 817,051.
The death toll from the virus rose by 14 to 25,881 in Tunisia, the ministry said in a statement.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the North African country reached 632, including 145 in intensive care units, while the total number of recoveries hit 708,564, it said. ■