Coronavirus: Africa and the pandemic Wednesday April 1

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Africa counted this Wednesday April 1st 5 786 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Covid-19 has already claimed the lives of 196 people on the continent, according to the African Union Center for Disease Prevention and Control. In sub-Saharan Africa, the three most affected countries are South Africa, Burkina Faso and Cameroon.

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• First case in Sierra Leone and first deaths in Congo

After Burundi and Bostwana on Tuesday, Sierra Leone in turn announces the first case of coronavirus. In a speech to the nation, President Maada Bio said Tuesday that it was a 37-year-old man who arrived from France on an Air Brussels flight on March 16 and was immediately placed in quarantine. In the process, schools in the country were closed and gatherings of more than 100 people banned until further notice.

The Republic of Congo records the first two deaths from the coronavirus. On Twitter, the Ministry of Health also announces that “ the epidemiological assessment drawn up by the Minister in charge of Health, Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo, reports 22 positive cases of Covid-19 in total and two cures. "

• Ethiopia postpones elections

Faced with logistical and health constraints linked to the pandemic, the Ethiopian National Electoral Office (Nebe) announced the postponement sine die of the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for next August. The Nebe specifies that a new date will be established when the threat of the coronavirus disappears. The opposition did not contest this decision.

• Guinea lowers fuel prices

The government announced Tuesday evening a 10% drop in fuel prices. Following sanitary measures halving the number of authorized passengers by taxi, public transport drivers started a strike on Monday to demand a drop in prices at the pump proportional to the fall in oil prices and the loss of earnings on their income.

• Kenyan President Apologizes

" I want to apologize to all Kenyans for perhaps some of the excesses that have been committed, " said Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. Since the introduction of the night curfew on Friday, the police have not hesitated to use tear gas and to beat people to disperse it, especially in Mombasa (south-east) and Kisumu (west). Police also launched an investigation into the death of a 13-year-old boy who was shot dead on his balcony in a Nairobi slum on Tuesday after police officers said they fired to enforce a curfew. . Kenya has so far recorded 59 cases of coronavirus and one death.

• A national solidarity fund in Cameroon

The President of the Republic Paul Biya launches a “Special National Solidarity Fund”. In a press release dated Tuesday, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute explains that the head of state has already promised to contribute up to one billion CFA francs to finance operations to combat the spread of the pandemic in the country.

• Angry Sudanese

Khartoum has closed its embassy in Cairo for an indefinite period. Sudanese stranded in Egypt, one of the countries most affected by coronavirus in Africa, and angry with their government, attacked the embassy on Tuesday to demand aid. Sudan has also received 400,000 masks from China. The country officially has seven patients and a first recovery. He is a Spaniard working for the United Nations.

• Presidential pardon in Algeria

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune signed a decree pardoning 5,037 detainees at the end of their sentence on Wednesday because of the Covid-19. These measures exclude in particular all those convicted of terrorism, treason, espionage or drug trafficking. The President of the Republic also announced an exceptional bonus for workers in the public health sector. The closure of universities and schools is extended and ministerial meetings will now be held remotely.

Air Algeria announces that it will suspend its flights until further notice. Seven hundred and sixteen cases of coronavirus have been officially registered in the country, and nine people have died in the last 24 hours.

• Demonstration of the working poor in Tunisia

While the Tunisian authorities decided Tuesday to extend the period of confinement in the country by two weeks, demonstrations took place this Wednesday in two working-class neighborhoods around the capital where daily workers were demanding the right to continue their activities in order to be able to continue to support themselves. The Ministry of Social Affairs announced Tuesday the distribution of food aid in these deprived areas.

Tunisia also released 1,420 detainees to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the prison environment. Some 23,000 people are currently incarcerated in the country's prisons, which have only 18,000 places.
The country has 394 proven cases and one death from Covid-19.

• Disappearance of a doctor in Libya

Eastern Libyan human rights groups denounce the disappearance of a doctor after a summons by a general of the Libyan national army led by Khalifa Haftar. Doctor Mohamad Ajram had criticized the preparatory measures to fight against the coronavirus in the east of the country.

• Uganda censors opponent Bobi Wine's song

Singer and opposition MP Bobi Wine alongside Ugandan musician Nubian Li is a hit with Corona Virus Alert , a song released on March 25 and viewed by more than 720,000 people on YouTube in one week. The star recalls in reggae the barrier gestures to fight against the spread of the epidemic, but the title is prohibited by state radio and television.

• End of quarantine for Botswana president

Head of State Mokgweetsi Masisi was released from quarantine on Wednesday after being tested negative for coronavirus. He has been under house arrest since his return from an official trip to Namibia where he had attended the swearing in of his counterpart Hage Geingob on March 21. " The director of health services has lifted, with immediate effect, home quarantine of his excellence, " said the chair in a brief statement. Botswana has so far recorded four confirmed cases of Covid-19, including one death.

• Growth at half mast in Niger

Niger's economic growth is expected to drop sharply in 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic. Finance Minister Mamadou Diop estimated Tuesday evening on public television that " the growth rate of the year 2020 would drop from 6.9% to 4.1%, a loss of 2.8 points ". The Minister estimated nearly 600 billion FCFA (900 million euros) financial needs to support the economy and the population, without specifying if the State had this amount. He announced tax exemptions for companies and last week President Mahamadou Issoufou had already announced proclaimed free distributions and sales at reduced prices of food " to support the vulnerable ", and " the assumption by the State of electricity and water bills ' for the lowest social brackets for the months of April and May.

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• Sierra Leone
• Coronavirus
• Kenya
• Uganda
• Tunisia

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