The coronavirus pandemic is defying the aging of Algeria’s physical care system, as the number of cases shown of COVID-19 reaches 45,000, with around 1,500 deaths. More than the virus itself, however, it is the Algerian regime’s use of the pandemic to suppress popular dissent that plunges the country into a deeper crisis. The government has taken advantage of the public aptitude emergency to arrest activists and suppress information, movements that are likely only to exacerbate Algeria’s long-standing political stalemate.
Anti-government demonstrators calling themselves Hirak, or “movement” in Arabic, have taken to the streets every single week since February 2019, first to protest the attempt of the sick octogenarian president Abdelaziz Bouteikafl to run for a fifth term, and, after Bouteflika’s resignation months later, to call for reforms of the entire political system. But because of the pandemic, they haven’t organized a demonstration since March 13. A few days after the latter demonstration, the regime sealed Algeria’s borders, closed schools, mosques and cafes and banned social gatherings. Then tougher measures, such as transient closures and curfews, were implemented in the country’s maximum affected spaces. These measures reflect the movements of governments around the world.