The Tunisian Ons Jabeur, which became The first Arab woman to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, announced that she will auction her racket to help hospitals in her country, which faces record numbers of coronavirus infections.
Jabeur, 26, defended his action through social networks, “for Tunisia, for a good cause”, and revealed that the initial price will be 2,000 dinars (equivalent to 600 euros) and that the sale will remain open for only 48 hours. In addition to the money raised, destined to the purchase of medicines and medical equipment, the athlete explained that she will make a personal donation.
“I hope that all Tunisians will come together to overcome this,” he declared. According to the person in charge of the campaign, the activist Hajer Driss, the bid reached around 2,200 euros after two hours, which would allow the purchase of at least one resuscitation unit.
This same racket was used to defeat the American Venus Williams, a five-time champion at Wimbledon; the Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza, winner of this tournament in 2017; and the Polish Iga Swiatek, winner of the last edition of Roland Garros.
Last Saturday, Tunisia once again registered a record number of daily deaths from COVID-19 with 194 people, bringing the number of victims to 16,244 since the beginning of the pandemic. The positivity rate, situated at 37%, leaves an average of 10,000 new cases every day, pushing an already precarious health system to the limit, with few medical personnel and a shortage of hospital oxygen.
Despite the increase in infections, driven by the entry of the Indian variant “Delta”, the Government has limited itself to advancing the curfew, preventing traffic between provinces, prohibiting social gatherings and sporting events, and forcing cafeterias and restaurants to serve only outdoors.
Since the vaccination campaign began in mid-March, about two million citizens out of a total of 12 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine. However, despite awareness campaigns, only three million people have registered on the digital platform “EVAX” to be vaccinated voluntarily and free of charge.
.
