Almost all African governments have publicly put in place strict screening at points of entry especially airports. Cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal and Nigeria. African airlines have cancelled scheduled flights to China except for Ethiopian Airlines.
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to MERS coronavirus, which is Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus and SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus.
Rwanda announced has confirmed four more cases bring its total to five after the index case was reported on Saturday. The cases involved three Rwandans and a Ugandan.
Ghana had reported four new cases bringing the tally to six. The West African nation announced first two cases last Thursday. The government also announced a travel ban for persons from countries that had 200 or more coronavirus cases.
In Kenya, president Uhuru Kenyatta disclosed at a press conference on Sunday that two new cases had been confirmed. Government announced a raft of measures including ban on public gatherings.
Senegal’s Health Ministry in its daily updates disclosed that two cases had been confirmed bringing the total number of cases to 26 out of which two have recovered and the remaining still undergoing treatment.
Ethiopian authorities said contact tracing associated with the index case led to 117 persons out of which three tested positive. They are two Japanese and an Ethiopian. The index patient was a Japanese.
South Africa’s confirmed case toll hits 61 leading to a raft of stringent measures imposed by government. South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal have all banned public gatherings in order to curb the outbreak.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa on Sunday evening announced a raft of measures after a cabinet meeting that was dedicated to the coronavirus. South Africa’s infection toll is now at 61.
Below are some measures announced:
Declaration of a state of disaster, which will allow for disaster management to reduce and mitigate impact.
Travel ban on heavily affected countries as from 18 March. Visas from the affected countries have been cancelled. SA citizens have been advised not to travel to this destinations.
Any foreign nationals who have been to the said destinations will be denied entry. Travelers from medium risk countries would have to undergo an intensive screening process.
Effective March 16, government will shut down 55 land entry points and two sea ports of entry will be shut down.
Cabinet has decided to prohibit gathering of more than 100 people. Upcoming national days been canceled. Organizers of small events will have to put in place robust hygienic controls.
Schools will be closed from Wednesday until after Easter Holidays. In turn, the mid year holidays will be shortened. Higher education Ministry conferring with universities and colleges on line of action.
Visits to correctional services (prisons) are cancelled for the next 30 days.
He also addressed extensively the impact of the virus on the country’s economy and cautioned against the spread of misinformation which could even worsen the already panicky situation the virus has thrown up.
Over half of Africa infected
Africa is seeing a steady spread of the coronavirus across the continent, with five new countries confirming cases on Saturday, so that 26 of Africa’s 54 countries have COVID-19 patients.
Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Namibia and Rwanda reported their first cases Saturday. All were brought to the continent by travelers from overseas, as with almost all the other cases reported in Africa, according to health authorities.
African governments and health officials are racing to try to contain the spread of the new virus on the continent of 1.3 billion people. If the disease spreads locally within the continent, health officials warn that several countries with fragile health systems could see higher mortality rates.
Namibia, which confirmed two cases of people who arrived from Spain, canceled its independence celebrations planned for March 21. The funds that were to have been spent on the independence festivities will now be used to fight the further spread of the coronavirus, said officials.
President Hage Geingob will be sworn into a second term of office, but all other large gatherings have been suspended for the next 30 days. Flights linking Namibia to and from Qatar, Ethiopia and Germany have been suspended for 30 days.
In response to two cases it confirmed on Saturday, Mauritania closed schools for a week, reduced border crossing points, placed a ban on public gatherings and called for travelers from countries at risk to voluntarily confine themselves at home.
Source: africanews.com
