COVID-19 in Libya: Immunity and Protective Measures?

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic illness and so far, there are almost 8860331 confirmed infected cases worldwide concentrating mainly in Americas and Europe, whereas data are less prominent in African countries. In Libya, the preliminary reports revealed there are small numbers of COVID-19 confirmed cases, which subsequently showed only a steady rise with no yet a clear explanation. In way we might find a reason behind Libya having a relatively small number of COVID-19 cases, the literature therefore was searched for all relevant journal articles and published reports that dealt with COVID-19 outbreaks. According to the latest released data, the incidence rate of COVID-19 in Libya remained relatively low as compared to the other countries, where only 571 out of almost nine millions total confirmed cases across the globe were documented in Libya. Further, there is a strong claim that Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, a part of national immunization program of many countries including Libya, might offer at least a partial protection against COVID-19. Cross-protective immunity triggered by other related viral infections is an additional immunological theory might explain the current low trend of COVID-19 epidemic in Libya.