Mali: an outbreak of Covid-19 in the presidency, the president and the vice-president not reached
Malian transitional president Bah N'Daw (right).
REUTERS / Amadou Keita
Text by: David Baché
4 min
In Mali, the upsurge in coronavirus cases is worrying.
Thursday, November 26, a higher defense council devoted to Covid-19 was scheduled on the subject.
It had to be canceled at the last minute after the discovery, precisely, of an outbreak of Covid-19 within the Presidency of the Republic.
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Member of the scientific committee for the national response to the coronavirus and director of the Charles Mérieux infectious disease center in Bamako, Professor Bourema Kouriba was to participate in the Defense Council devoted to the coronavirus.
The advice was postponed
sine die
, but Professor Kouriba wants to reassure the state of health of President
Bah N'Daw
and Vice-Resident Assimi Goïta.
“
They are not concerned.
But as around there are very close people who have been affected, as a precaution, they have taken massive samples from the entire presidency.
And these samples are being processed.
There is no doubt about it, they are not reached,
”he says.
The March 26 stadium has been filled
Since the start of the pandemic, Mali, like most African countries, has been relatively spared, with 4,462 cases and 148 deaths, according to the latest official figures.
Largely underestimated, since these are only detected cases.
Today, 1,250 known people are still affected, and the spread is accelerating: from a handful of new cases every day, we have grown to forty and even more than 90 at the end of November.
“
There has been a relaxation in the population, there has been a decrease in vigilance, which has led to the organization of events where there are massive regroupings.
We organized the Maouloud, the feast for the birth of the prophet.
The March 26 stadium, in Bamako, was full.
In weddings, no one wears a mask.
Those who wore the mask were considered special people
, ”continues Professor Kouriba.
The health authorities therefore recommend,
a fortiori
for the elderly or those suffering from respiratory failure, to wear the mask as much as possible, to wash their hands regularly, and to respect the distancing measures.
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