A pregnant Algerian doctor who was denied maternity leave has died of the coronavirus, prompting the dismissal of the Ras El Oued hospital director. Wafa Boudissa, the 28-year-old victim, was eight months pregnant when she died on Friday night. Boudissa had requested early maternity leave three times, but the hospital chief refused to let her have time off. Boudissa’s colleagues had signed a petition backing her request to take early maternity leave, after a presidential decree, released as the coronavirus reached Algeria, stated that pregnant women and mothers were among individuals allowed to take exceptional leave from work. A presidential decree released at the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic had stated that pregnant women and those raising children were among individuals allowed to take exceptional leave from work. According to officially declared figures, Algeria has registered 6,821 cases of coronavirus, including 542 deaths, since February.