Coronavirus: Gabon restricts its passage to the Cameroonian border

A Gabonese road. Authorities have restricted the right of passage to the northern border with Cameroon. wikipedia

Text by: RFI Follow

Libreville decided at the end of a presidential council on Saturday March 7 to postpone to a later date all the international events planned in its territory and provisionally suspended traffic on its land border with Cameroon where two cases of coronavirus have been confirmed.

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With our correspondent in Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma

In its decision, Gabon was cautious: it restricts the movement of people on its northern land border with Cameroon, but did not close it completely hermetically because the axis concerned is very vital in the supply of the Gabonese capital with fresh food.

Cassava, bananas, taros, beans ... In short, many fruits and vegetables consumed in Libreville are imported from Cameroon by land. Trucks transporting goods therefore have the right to pass on the sole condition of submitting to health checks.

The measure against the Cameroon border is not the only decision taken by Gabon to protect itself from the Coronavirus. Prime Minister Julien Nkoghe Bekalé on Friday banned all official missions to countries where cases have been confirmed.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Alain-Claude Billie By Nze sent correspondence to diplomats stationed in Gabon to invite them not to return to Gabon until further notice at the risk of being placed in quarantine.

One hundred beds are available in three hospitals to manage possible cases. Military Health is ready to mount a field hospital in the event of an epidemic. For the moment, Edgard Anicet Mboumbou Miyakou, government spokesperson, “ reassures the populations that everything is in place to deal with this possibility of discovery of cases of infection and that all the health structures in the country are on alert, there is therefore no reason to panic. "

A toll-free number, 1410, is now available to report suspected cases.

► Read also: Coronavirus: in Africa, non-affected countries are preparing

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  • Gabon
  • Coronavirus
  • Cameroon

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