Three Egyptian military planes, loaded with several tonnes of medicine, medical supplies and equipment, took off from Cairo and arrived in Tunis on Monday to help Tunisia face its current coronavirus crisis.

The shipments, provided by the Egyptian health ministry with the aim of alleviating the burden on the Tunisian people, was sent upon the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, a statement by the Egyptian military spokesman said.

The Tunisian government thanked Egypt for its continued support.

Egypt has sent several shipments of medical aid due to the rising occupancy rate at Tunisian hospitals as a result of the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Tunisia is seeking to speed up the vaccination process amid the rise in reported positive cases.

So far, the country has had a total of 610,660 cases, including 20,931 deaths and 542,210 recoveries.