The new Algerian Prime Minister, Ayman Ben Abderrahmane, contracted COVID-19 and began a seven-day quarantine on Saturday, his office announced in a statement.

The statement stated that "the results of tests confirmed that (...) Ayman bin Abdul Rahman was infected with Covid-19," and added that "he entered a 7-day quarantine, starting today, with another examination at the end of the period."

The office indicated that Abdel-Rahman "will continue (...) his duties from a distance."

On Friday, Algeria crossed the threshold of 800 daily infections with the coronavirus for the first time since November 2020.

In a related development, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune chaired Saturday a meeting of the Scientific Committee to follow up on the development of the epidemic, during which it was decided to "re-activate" the preventive measures firmly and to speed up the pace of vaccination, according to the presidency in a statement.

The 75-year-old had also contracted COVID-19 at the end of 2020 and was hospitalized in Germany for several months.

The number of infections has been witnessing a strong rise for weeks in Algeria, with the outbreak of the Delta and Alpha mutant. Concerned doctors are intensifying calls to respect recommendations for distancing and uptake of vaccination.

Tents have been set up to vaccinate people in neighborhoods of the capital, where the largest number of infections is recorded. A Friday vaccination campaign was launched in 13 mosques in Algiers.

Since the first cases were detected on February 25, 2020, Algeria has recorded more than 145,000 injuries, including about 4,000.