Coronavirus: Africa and the pandemic on Friday June 19

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Africa had this Friday, June 19, 276,733 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Covid-19 has already claimed the lives of 7,417 people on the continent, according to the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The countries most affected by the pandemic are South Africa (83,890 cases), Egypt (50,437), Nigeria (18,480), Ghana (12,929), Algeria (11,385), Cameroon (10,638) and Morocco (9,280).

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• Impact of Covid-19: WHO worries about gender inequalities

The World Health Organization recalls that health crises always affect men and women differently. For the moment, "  women represent around 40% of Covid-19 cases, this figure varies from 35% in some countries to over 55% in South Africa  ". But the consequences of measures to prevent the spread of the virus affect women much more.

“  We are already seeing the impact of Covid-19 on women and girls is profound. Women are disproportionately affected by confinement and this translates into reduced access to health services  , ”warns Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

Access to medical and social services is disrupted. "  According to preliminary data, in Zimbabwe, the number of caesarean sections performed decreased by 42% between January and April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019  ". Another example, in Burundi, where "  the first statistics show that births with skilled birth attendants went from 30,826 in April 2019 to 4,749 in April 2020  ". According to a publication in The Lancet , published in May, a decline in access to care for mothers could translate into an increase of more than 12,000 maternal deaths.

In addition, women hold most of the jobs in the informal sector, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Finally, they are also more subject to the risk of domestic and gender-based violence, which has increased in certain countries, according to UN Women.

Health emergencies affect men and women differently. As # COVID19 continues to spread in #Africa, WHO is concerned about its impact on women and girls. https://t.co/kpqLNMy5sU pic.twitter.com/GTfgK8Swfo

• WFP planes threatened with paralysis

The United Nations World Food Program is also affected by the consequences of the health crisis linked to the new coronavirus. The organization lacks funds and could therefore be forced to "massively" suspend its flights to send food to poor countries in July. WFP has only received $ 178 million of the $ 965 million it will need to deliver.

"  Unless substantial funds are provided by donors by the end of the first week in July, WFP will have no choice but to nail most of its humanitarian fleet to the ground  ," warns the door. - word of the organization. For Elisabeth Byrs it is "  crucial  " that aid delivery does not stop "  when it is most needed  " pointing to the risk that some countries do not receive the medical equipment they need in the face of Covid-19 .

• Global campaign against malaria warns of coronavirus shortage

Production and distribution of rapid test kits and drugs are disrupted as the rainy season arrives in parts of the continent, the most affected by malaria. According to the RBM Partnership to end malaria, an additional 105 million rapid tests are needed this year. But the consequences of the pandemic are creating shortages that are driving up prices, both tests and essential ingredients to make anti-malaria treatments. No explicit mention of hydroxychloroquine, but the molecule was one of the treatments tried worldwide to cure Covid-19. Presumably there will be an effect on the availability of its stocks, which are usually used to treat malaria.

• The continental medical purchasing platform is launched

It will change a lot, according to the director of the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Africa CDC. The current President of the African Union, South African Cyril Ramaphosa, officially kicked off this initiative on Thursday, June 18. The African Medical Supply Platform, PAFM, is a market place for 55 AU members to enable them to buy medical equipment necessary for the fight against the pandemic from foreign suppliers. Supported by the Africa CDC and the Afreximbank which will facilitate payments, it will allow the countries of the continent to pool their purchases. It was designed by the Franco-Ivorian company Janngo, specializing in particular in online commerce.

• Dexamethasone: the South African Aspen ready to accelerate its production

The molecule is a powerful steroid . A British study shows that it would have a positive impact on the most serious cases of Covid-19, those requiring intubation. It would reduce mortality by a third for these cases. The South African laboratory has licenses to manufacture dexamethasone "worldwide", according to the South African Minister of Health.

"  We are able to speed up production if demand demands,  " says AFP, one of the group's managers, Dr Stavros Nicolaou. "  We are still in the process of assessing what the global demand could be" for this drug, he adds, "  obviously if it increased very strongly we would have difficulty  " in meeting it.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the fact that dexamethasone can "  improve the treatment of the disease  ". Ethiopia is one of the countries that announced an authorization to prescribe a “  small dose  ” of the molecule for “  patients who need oxygen or mechanical ventilation  ” to fight Covid-19, according to the minister of Health, Doctor Lia Tadesse. To date, the country of the Horn of Africa has 4,070 confirmed cases with 72 deaths and 1,027 healings.

We reviewed the study report from the UK about Dexamethasone use for COVID-19 patients. Following recommendation from our clinical advisory group and Health professionals National advisory council,
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Ethiopia is also helping one of its neighbors, Somalia, by donating 15 tonnes of medical equipment. A ceremony was held on Thursday June 18 in Mogadishu.

• In South Africa, the alarm call of medical personnel before the peak of the pandemic

Lack of equipment and training, exhaustion, stress, health personnel in South Africa are struggling to cope with the growing number of coronavirus patients, while the peak of the pandemic is not expected until July. “  The last time I was on duty, I had eight pairs of gloves. How to work with eight pairs of gloves during a twelve hour shift? ", Testified to AFP, on condition of anonymity, a nurse at Livingstone hospital in the eastern Cape province.

To date, South Africa, the continent's most affected country, has recorded nearly 84,000 cases of infection, including more than 1,700 deaths, and anticipates a peak of the pandemic within a few years. weeks. Three South African provinces, Western Cape (south), Gauteng (north) and Eastern Cape (south), alone account for most of the patients.

"  It's hard to predict if we will be able to manage the situation,  " says a doctor from the city of East London in Eastern Cape, denouncing the lack of respirators and training of caregivers. "  The system was already lame before, so it's hard to prepare for a pandemic,  " he adds. In his establishment, the intensive care unit was closed for a week after the discovery of a case of Covid-19. Staff have been tested, the premises disinfected, but some patients have died. "  I would not say that they died because they could not be admitted, but they could perhaps have survived if they had been admitted to an intensive care unit,  " says the practitioner.

"  Whenever I try to transfer a patient to an intensive care unit in our referral hospital, they tell me that they are full,  " adds an emergency room doctor from a hospital in the Cape region. "  I think it's going to be very, very hard,  " she concludes. Western Cape, on the contrary, is "  ready for the influx of cases  ", assures the spokesperson of the health services of the province, Nomawethu Sbukwana.

In addition, the waiting times to obtain the results of a Covid test remain long in the country tells us the Associated Press agency. Public laboratories must wait 12 days, according to the latest report from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases.

• Egypt passes the 50,000 mark

The country has 50,437 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Friday, but the actual figure could be up to five times higher, according to a study cited on Thursday June 18 by the Minister of Higher Education. Schools, restaurants, all economic activity in the country has stopped since March. Most international flights are forced to stop. But Cairo hopes to authorize them again from July 1 to help the tourism sector which officially represents 5% of national GDP and up to 15% according to some analysts.

• “  Strong rebound  ” in Guinea

Data from the National Health Security Agency indicates a surge in the number of positive cases (+173) tested on Thursday, June 18, as seen in the graph below:

Evolution of the number of cases of # Covid19 in # Guinea since March 12

We note a strong rebound on the date of 06/18/2020

4841 cases in total, including
3467 cured and
26 deaths https://t.co/lXPGpGJWGU pic .twitter.com / 7l4teO2IOO

• Covid-19 left 26 dead for 3,467 healings ( 4,841 confirmed cases) in Guinea-Conakry

Relief in private Senegalese schools with the reopening announced
A new date for the partial reopening of schools has been set: June 25 for students in examination classes (CM2, 3rd, terminal). Schools have been closed since March as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. This announced reopening is a breath of fresh air for private establishments that operate thanks to tuition fees.

Their representatives claim to be on the brink and ask for more support from the authorities. In Guédiawaye, in the suburbs of Dakar, the manager Abass Ndour, coordinator of the Collective of private schools explains: “  the main resources are tuition fees. If they are absent, hello the damage. Schools are not able to pay salaries, rental charges, meet commitments made at the level of banks and financial institutions.  "

According to the Minister of National Education, 34% of Senegalese students are trained in the private sector, which has some 3,000 establishments. A minority is recognized and subsidized, the others are authorized. Mamadou Dione, school director and coordinator of the Collective of promoters of private schools (Copep) of Guédiawaye, regrets the lack of involvement of the State. He feels "  ignored, without consideration. When it comes to investments, we have invested. When it comes to creating jobs, we have done it. We have also trained children from this country. All of this was the role of the state. We didn't even think that the state could put us at the bottom of the ladder  . ” For these officials, the announced reopening is good news, but does not resolve the issue of the past few months without revenue.

In addition, the director of cabinet of the Minister of Health, Dr. Aloyse Waly Diouf, has resigned and will leave his post at the end of the month. He will join the World Health Organization. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health indicates that the selection process at WHO had started in July 2019, but that Dr Diouf had asked to postpone taking up his post to participate in the response against pandemic.

• DRC : Félix Tshisekedi presents his plan to face the economic crisis

The Congolese president is increasingly worried about the perverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy of his country. He launched Thursday, June 18 in Kinshasa, a "  multi-sector emergency program  " for the mitigation of the impacts of the pandemic, with an envelope of $ 2.6 billion. "  Our commitment to promote socio-economic development and the well-being of citizens is undermined and this disrupts the achievement of our clearly expressed ambitions, recognizes the Head of State. The same applies to commitments made at regional and international level.  "

The government's plan revolves around three axes: maintaining the response, strengthening it and supporting macroeconomic stability. To finance it, the State provides a minimum of $ 50 million for each of the nine monthly payments of the program. Funds that would come from meager state revenues in these times of more severe recession than expected. The government counts in particular on the mining sector, itself already very affected.

The Congolese state would therefore cover only less than a fifth of the amount required. But for the rest, he hopes a lot from his partners and says he has received pledges of up to $ 407 million, including from the United Nations. It is "  without counting the bilateral [partners] who were waiting for the launch  " of the program, it is said, on the side of the vice-primature in charge of the plan.

Nothing is won yet. More than $ 1.8 billion remains to be filled. However, on the donor side, there was a call for a more specific program, with impact measures to ensure the effectiveness of the plan. What did not appear in the presentation provided to the press. And then, the World Bank and the IMF have already granted more than 2.5 billion loans and grants to the DRC since December for other projects. The two financial institutions first demand an improvement in governance in order to disburse funds.

• Bribery charges over medical contracts in Zimbabwe

The main opposition party in Zimbabwe points to the contract signed by the government and a medical company created just two months ago to supply it with medical equipment in the fight against Covid-19. The company Drax Consult SAGL has won a contract worth 20 million dollars to supply, among other things, tests and protective equipment.

In March, authorities in Hungary, where the company is registered, were concerned about the suspicious payment of $ 2 million to the company's account, angering the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). According to the party, the anti-corruption commission is not doing enough. The government has not yet commented on this matter.

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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