ALGIERS, CAIRO - Newly appointed Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane is infected with COVID-19, Algerian state TV said on Saturday.

The prime minister, who had just formed his new government on Wednesday, will quarantine for seven days, but will continue performing his duties virtually, state TV said.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered his government to reimpose physical distancing and mask-wearing measures across the country on Saturday, as well as to speed up a vaccination drive to cope with a surge in infection cases, it said.

The North African country has so far reported 145,296 confirmed cases of coronavirus including 3,824 deaths.

  - Reuters