Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic on Saturday May 30

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According to Africa CDC, the African Center for Disease Control Prevention, the continent recorded 136,677 cases of Covid-19 on Saturday 30 May, and 3,941 deaths due to the disease. South Africa and Egypt are still the two plays most affected by the pandemic.

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• Congo-Brazzaville and Senegal extend the state of health emergency until the end of June

Faced with the coronavirus pandemic which officially affects 571 people including more than 161 healed and 19 deaths, the Congolese government has just extended for the umpteenth time the state of health emergency which will run until June 20. For Professor Alexis Elira Dokekias, first responsible for the care of patients with Covid-19, this is a protective measure and not of fear. The country will soon reach the peak of the pandemic and "  it is completely normal as a precaution and not for fear that we will have to extend these measures,  " he explained to our correspondent's microphone. Loïcia Martial .

We are approaching the epidemic peak of this epidemic around the period from June 5 to 10 and it is quite normal that from this period, we will be able to take precautionary measures to guarantee the controls the balance of this epidemic outbreak.

Professor Alexis Elira Dokekias, first responsible for the care of Covid-19 patients in Congo-Brazzaville

Loïcia Martial

In Senegal , Macky Sall extended once again Friday until the end of June the state of emergency decreed on March 23 and so far accompanied by a night curfew to fight the Covid-19, he said. we learned from the presidency. The head of state has issued a decree to this effect extending the state of emergency for another 30 days, according to the text of the document authenticated by a source close to the presidency.

Many voices are raised, however, demanding that the restrictions be lifted. They cite the price paid by the disadvantaged in a country where around 40% of the population lives below the poverty line according to the World Bank and where many live from day to day informal activities. The pandemic is relatively contained in Senegal which officially declared more than 3,400 cases of contamination and 41 deaths.

• Cape Verde takes shape

The archipelago begins a gradual return to more normal activity on Saturday with the lifting of the state of emergency still in force because of the Covid-19, authorities said. Cape Verdean President Jorges Carlos Fonseca announced Thursday, May 28, the end of Friday night at midnight (Saturday 01:00 UT) of the state of emergency on the island of Santiago. Santiago, where the capital Praia is located, remains the only island in the archipelago with active cases of Covid-19, numbering around 240.

The state of emergency had been gradually lifted elsewhere in the archipelago where two other islands had been affected, Sao Vicente and Boavista, with 3 and 56 cases respectively, all cured. Cape Verde has reported 390 cases of contamination and four deaths.

• In Morocco, containment rules soften

Bookshops and press kiosks reopened, restaurants again authorized to deliver: after ten weeks of confinement, Casablanca regains some of its excitement even before the official lifting of restrictions linked to the pandemic of new coronavirus, expected on June 10.

The health situation is "  today very under control,  " said Minister of Health Khalid Aït Taleb on Thursday before Parliament. "  The sources of contamination in closed places are under control (...). We can start talking about a reduction in containment measures  , ”he said.

The National Union of Traders and Professionals (SNCP) for its part pointed to "  contradictory and surprising decisions concerning the resumption of activity  " by deploring a policy of "  improvisation  " while the authorities strongly recommended that Moroccans resume work, without specifying in which sectors.

Many employees have already returned to their posts and civil servants have found their way back to the administrations. Interurban travel was also eased before the gradual resumption of rail links on Monday., But police controls remain and borders remain closed, as are mosques, schools, or beaches. Morocco has officially registered 7,697 cases of new coronavirus and 202 deaths for 35 million inhabitants. Casablanca, the most densely populated city in the country, was the most affected with 32.6% of cases, according to official statistics.

• Malagasy doctors condemn political " pressures " in the context of the pandemic

Professor Stéphane Ralandisson, dean of the Toamasinan medical school, was briefly detained on Friday in a case where a doctor was found hanged in a city hospital. His lawyer, Berthieu Ramahefasoa, told AFP that his client was suspected of "murder".

The professor was quickly dismissed. "  After seeing the file, I see no reason to refer the professor,  " said Toamasina's prosecutor, Thierry Lauret Rajaona, before the press. But this arrest caused the anger of a Madagascan union as well as that of the order of doctors. Stéphane Ralandisson is indeed known for his skepticism towards Covid-Organics , a remedy based on artemisia praised by President Rajoelina and decried by the WHO.

►Also read: Artemisia, the new “green gold” of Madagascar?

It has been widely distributed among the Malagasy population and offered to many African countries, even though no scientific study has confirmed its effectiveness. Professor Ralandison was also moved a month ago by the " not very scientific  " methods  used to promote it. “  Is giving a medicine to a patient who does not need it ethical? He asked himself.

Reunited Friday, his colleagues saw in his arrest pressure against an opponent of the presidential potion. In a statement, they condemned "  direct or indirect pressure on health workers during this pandemic period  " and called on the authorities to "  stop the prosecution of health workers in the course of their work  ". Madagascar has so far recorded 656 cases of coronavirus, including two fatalities and 154 cures.

• Pierre Nkurunziza's wife medically evacuated to Kenya

Denise Bucumi was evacuated from Bujumbura on a medical plane in the night from Wednesday to Thursday to Nairobi where she was hospitalized, we learned Friday from airport and administrative sources. The former first lady was transported aboard a Pilatus ambulance plane of the NGO Amref, specialized in medical evacuations, an airport source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

According to SOS Media Burundi, one of the last independent media in the country, the international airport Melchior de Bujumbura was plunged into darkness and all the personnel removed from the tarmac when the first lady and her delegation arrived on the tarmac to embark on board. 'apparatus. According to sources interviewed by AFP, versions differ as to the reason for this medical evacuation.

Pierre Nkurunziza, a born again evangelical Christian, and his pastor wife have repeatedly downplayed the severity of the new coronavirus pandemic. "  It is the blessing of God which is on Burundians (...) All these pandemics are transmitted through the air, but God has purified the air of Burundi,  " he said Thursday at the launch of three days of prayers organized to thank God for sparing Burundi. 

The country officially has 42 cases of Covid-19, but according to doctors in Burundi, many cases and deaths of people with symptoms of the virus are not counted, the authorities not carrying out tests on these suspected cases.

• Air France organizes two repatriation flights to Côte d'Ivoire

The Ivorian embassy in Paris announced in a briefing note that nationals stranded in France, due to the closure of the borders, were able to return.

Air France is thus organizing two flights on June 4 and 11 to Abidjan. Those concerned should contact the Embassy in Paris at the following contacts

e.kouadio@diplomatie.gouv.ci or 1erconseiller.france@diplomatie.gouv.ci or at +33 6 61 30 91 13 to subscribe to the lists.

Our selection on the coronavirus

• Listen to our Coronavirus Info column 

• Our  explanations  :
→  What we know about the mode of contagion
→  Disparities and inequalities facing the coronavirus
→  Triple therapy, Discovery… update on research
→  Remdesivir, antibodies and immunity
→  The race for the vaccine is in full swing
→  How to make a mask and use it well

• Our series  :
→ “  The response, country by country  ”
→ “  Nurses  ' words ”

• After Covid-19, towards a new world?

• See also the files of RFI Savoirs on the Covid-19:
→  Birth of a pandemic
→  Everyday life put to the test
→  The history of epidemics
→  Science facing the Covid-19
→  The geopolitical consequences

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