Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic on Friday, March 27

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Africa had, Friday, March 27, 3,426 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Covid-19 has already claimed the lives of 94 people on the continent, according to the African Union Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The three most affected countries are South Africa, Burkina Faso and Ghana. On the continent, 24 countries have closed their borders and ten have suspended their international air links.

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Kinshasa does its shopping before confinement

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), residents of the Congolese capital rushed Friday, March 27, to grocery stores before the total confinement of three weeks which begins Saturday. The rush caused food prices to soar. This confinement is said to be “intermittent” because it must be interrupted at regular intervals to allow the people of Kinshasa to stock up. More than 50 cases have been confirmed so far, including one in Ituri, the first outside the capital Kinshasa, the region hit by the last Ebola epidemic.

Affected politicians

The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, and the “boss” of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, are in quarantine after having been in contact with people who tested positive for coronavirus.

In Nigeria, the chief of staff of the president reaches

The chief of staff and chief adviser, Abba Kyari, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to several senior political figures. Those around him vehemently deny that President Muhammadu Buhari, who is 77 years old, is sick. Its last public intervention goes back to Tuesday March 24. In Nigeria, 63 cases have been confirmed so far.

In Algeria, extended confinement

The partial confinement is extended, from Saturday, March 28, to nine additional wilayas (regions), according to the Algerian News Agency. A tenth province, Blida, south of the capital, is already in total containment, like the city of Algiers. “Partial” confinement means that the inhabitants are free to move around while respecting preventive measures, but invited to stay at home despite everything. In all these regions a curfew is in effect from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. In North Africa, Algeria has the most confirmed cases after Egypt, with 367 and 495 cases respectively.

Containment pushed back in Ghana

Despite its 136 confirmed cases of Covid-19, Ghana does not intend to retain its population at home, at least for the time being. President Nana Akufo-Addo said Thursday, March 26, that he wished to assess the repercussions of such a measure before deciding on its adoption. In an interview with union leaders in Accra, he said the government would decide "soon". The main trade union confederation (TCU) last week called for containment.

Towards tougher measures in Madagascar

The authorities call on the police to enforce "more rigorously " the confinement and the distances that the Madagascans must keep between them. In a message on his Twitter account, President Andry Rajoelina asked the municipalities to also ensure compliance with preventive measures. The head of state adds that Madagascar has a stock of " drugs proven in China and Europe for 2,000 patients ". Other preventive measures, he says, " will be unveiled in the coming days ". Some 24 cases have been confirmed to date in Madagascar.

I call on the police and the communes to apply more rigorously the distancing and confinement measures.

Eritrea puts hola on transport

The government of Asmara suspends, from Friday, public transport, including buses, minibuses and taxis, in all cities of the country. It is now prohibited to travel from one city to another or from one region to another. International flights were suspended on Thursday. Gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited.

A new screening test in South Africa

South Africa intends to use a test used to date for tuberculosis screening to identify Covid-19 cases more quickly. GeneXpert, approved by US health officials last week, is expected in South Africa in April. Smaller, more easily transportable, this kit or "rapid syndromic test" provides results in less than an hour outside the laboratory. In South Africa, the number of confirmed cases on Friday was 1,170.

► Read also: Coronavirus: total containment for South Africa

“Traditional” medicine on the test bench in Burkina

A clinical trial will evaluate the effectiveness of a herbal medicine, Apivirine, to help patients fight the virus, according to the Burkinabè Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Alassoum Maïga. It will be carried out in the containment site of the Tingandogo university hospital center, in the Center region. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently requested the contribution of traditional medicine in the search for a treatment for coronavirus disease. Apivirine is an antiretroviral used in particular against HIV.

In Tunisia, a tribute to the " white army "

The Central Bank of Tunisia put into circulation on Friday March 27 a new ten dinar note (around 3 euros) illustrated, for the first time, with a portrait of a woman: Tawhida Ben Cheikh, the first woman doctor in the Maghreb. This is, according to Abdelaziz Ben Saïd, an official of the Bank, to pay tribute to the doctors at a time when " our white army is on the front line in the war " against the coronavirus.

In Senegal, anti-virus tags

The artist Badzoo (Serigne Mansour Fall) and the RBS Crew team painted, in front of the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, a mural to make young people aware of the coronavirus. In Saint-Louis, a group of young people created to fight against the coronavirus believes that " young people must be at the forefront of the fight ".

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Infos coronavirus , our daily column on the Covid-19

• Practical questions:
→ What is the lifespan of the virus?
→ Who are the vulnerable people ?
→ What should you do when you think you are contaminated ?
→ Quarantine, what are we talking about ?
→ What treatments ? The effectiveness of an antimalarial drug in question
→ The advice of a psychiatrist to live well the confinement

Find all our articles, reports, chronicles and programs on the coronavirus by clicking here .

See also our contents on containment .

► Read also: Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic on Friday, March 27

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