Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic on Sunday, April 26

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Africa has passed the 30,000 contamination mark this Sunday, April 26: 31,091 positive cases. The Covid-19 has already claimed the lives of 1,393 people on the continent, according to the African Union Center for Disease Prevention and Control. 9,331 patients are cured. South Africa has the most cases, but Algeria, Egypt and Morocco are the three countries with the most deaths.

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• The milestone of 30,000 contaminations crossed on the continent

Africa crossed the threshold of 30,000 contaminations this Sunday, with 31,091 cases for 1,393 deaths. These figures remain very low if we compare them with those of other regions of the world (in total, nearly 3,000 million contaminations and more than 200,000 deaths). However, certain data must be handled with caution, and that from certain African countries is only rarely updated.

The most affected region is North Africa: Algeria, Egypt and Morocco are the three countries that register the most deaths (419, 307 and 160). However, the highest number of reported cases is found in South Africa (4,361). East and Central Africa are the most spared, even if the situation in Djibouti worries (1,023 cases, 2 deaths, the small country is the most affected in the Horn of Africa). Cameroon records 1,621 cases (for 56 deaths).

• In Burkina Faso, stylists engaged against the Covid-19

Faced with Covid-19 and in order to comply with barrier measures and government directives, some countries compete in inventiveness. In Burkina Faso, wearing a mask will be compulsory from Monday, April 27, the government announced. Not necessarily easy to get a mask, especially for all budgets ... So several stylists and fashion designers in the country have launched into the production of masks or mufflers , tells us our correspondent in Ouagadougou,  Yaya Boudani .

For Serge Kader Lamizana, a young stylist, the main thing is above all to be able to offer masks to healthcare staff and patients in the country's major cities. But lots of masks are also distributed to the poor. Masks treated aesthetically, but also effective, because developed with the assistance of the national public health laboratory, which controlled the products. The workshop produces around 150 masks per day, and is not likely to reduce the airfoil, with the announcement of the compulsory wearing of the nose mask this Monday.
The country has 629 cases for 41 deaths.

• In Benin, confined life, masked life

As in Ouagadougou, wearing a mask is compulsory in Cotonou. And this since April 9, as well as in fifteen municipalities in the south of the country, isolated by a sanitary cordon. The measures are fairly well respected in Benin, where the disease caused 54 contaminations for one death. How is life masked? To discover with the report of our correspondent in Cotonou, Delphine Bousquet .

• Malagasy civil society raises its voice in the face of crisis management

The very wide communication of the Malagasy authorities around the “Covid-Organics”, supposed remedy against the coronavirus, does not convince everyone on the Big Island. Civil society is critical of the management of the pandemic in the country. In particular, the excess of political speaking to extol the virtues of the drink, to the detriment of scientific and medical expertise.

Several organizations have issued press releases to voice their concerns. They are also alarmed by the return to school of part of the pupils , when their safety cannot be completely guaranteed. The KMF / CNOE organization, which works for the education of citizens, requests through its president that students not be forced to drink "Covid-Organics", reports our correspondent in Antananarivo, Laetitia Bezain . A dozen other organizations claim a postponement of the resumption of classes and denounce the return of children to classes. The final and third graders resumed their journey to school on Wednesday. Those in 7th grade must return to class this Monday.

Some places of worship, they reopened this Sunday after a month of closure (with temperature measurements and regularly disinfected buildings). Meetings are limited to 50 people. The official Malagasy assessment is now 123 cases, with a new contamination this Sunday. The Big Island, on the other hand, still has no deaths.

• In DRC, little respect for confinement in Uvira

Struck a few days ago by deadly floods , Uvira is struggling to enforce containment by its inhabitants. Located in South Kivu, the locality is on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, on the border with Burundi, closed to fight against the spread of the virus. The pandemic does not really worry the population, says our correspondent William Basimike . We do not see a mask, no disinfectant, and on the contrary many accolades ... The distancing measures are not respected.

The residents do not want to add stress to an already very anxiety-provoking situation after the floods, explains a mother to him: “  We are no longer afraid of the coronavirus, this catastrophe that we have just known is already replacing the danger of this disease. There is no coronavirus in Uvira. We only learn it from afar. Besides, they open the border to us here, so that we can find food for our children.  The markets remain crowded. The provincial governor reminds, however, that the Covid-19 is a reality in the region. The DRC lists 442 positive cases for 28 dead. The vast majority of contaminations and deaths are in the capital Kinshasa.

• In Congo-Brazzaville, angry taxi drivers

Congo-Brazzaville announced Saturday that it would disinfect the main road arteries of its capital, among the nine districts of the city. Brazzaville where travel is always prohibited. As a result, taxi drivers are on forced rest, with no activity since the start of containment. A difficult situation to live with, as several professionals in the sector explained to our correspondent, Loïcia Martial . "  The car is parked completely, the wheels have lost air and the car has taken too much dust,  " sighs one of them. "  We are stuck and we do not get out any more. We have to send SOS to our parents to help us. The government has not taken any accompanying measures in relation to our situation. We ask him, he who receives donations, that he also thinks of the drivers that we are.  "

Since the taxi drivers have disappeared from traffic, the pushchairs have taken over. They transport goods and passengers through the city. The country counts to date 200 positive cases with the new coronavirus for six deaths.

• In Gabon, the state of health emergency extended by another 15 days

The state of health emergency in force in the Central African country is extended at least until May 10, announced on the night of Saturday to Sunday the Gabonese Minister of Communication, government spokesman, Edgard Anicet Mboumbou Miyakou. The official Gabonese assessment of Covid-19 is 176 positive cases, for 30 healings and 3 deaths.

Government press release. # ComGouv🇬🇦 pic.twitter.com/BTnw6XYTUw

• In Nigeria, a Ramadan under confinement that does not pass

Ramadan, which started this weekend, is particularly difficult to live in this period of confinement for African Muslims. Particularly in Kano, a city in the north of the country governed by Sharia law. Closed mosques, closed markets, group prayers prohibited and family gatherings too ... The believers in the region are under tension and have only had an hour or two to stock up on food. Many demand a relaxation of the containment, and are not convinced of the existence of the coronavirus.

However, the disease has already infected 1,182 people in Nigeria, killing 35 people. More than half of the cases are in the economic capital Lagos, which said it made it mandatory to wear a mask to fight the spread of the pandemic. Failure to comply with this measure will expose offenders to sanctions, said the state governor of the megalopolis of 20 million inhabitants. Masks will be produced in large quantities also ensures the authorities.

• Covid-19 crisis could worsen locust invasion in the Horn of Africa

Since the end of 2019, East Africa has been the victim of an unprecedented invasion of locusts. These insects are very voracious, and ravage hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops. With dramatic consequences for the affected populations, who fall into food insecurity for several million of them. The global Covid-19 pandemic and restrictive measures in the region are only making the situation worse, explains on RFI Cyril Ferrand , coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to resilience programs in East Africa.

For him, “  the locusts and Covid-19 are aggravating factors on the region. We are in a region where we already have 20 million people in food crisis.  The virus makes it particularly difficult to control the spread of locusts. "  We had an alert, particularly in Kenya in early April, where indeed our pesticide stocks were at their lowest, but we have not had a stock-out in any country in the sub-region so far.  "

• Controversy in South Africa around house demolitions

In South Africa, containment measures will be relaxed from May 1, especially for businesses, and wearing a mask will be made the same day. On the other hand, the inhabitants are called to stay at home. A shame for certain populations of slums in South Africa, who saw their shelters illegally built be demolished by the authorities, reports our correspondent in Johannesburg , Claire Bargelès .

Since the start of containment, similar operations have taken place in the suburbs of Cape Town and Durban. The Minister of Housing condemned these actions, promising that no further evictions would take place during the confinement period. Pushed by the Human Rights Commission, the city of Johannesburg has finally promised to relocate the evicted residents.

South African deconfinement also questioned

More than a million and a half of South Africans will therefore return to work within a week, especially those working in the field of agriculture, the mining sector or take-out catering. A resumption of activity mainly motivated by economic considerations, explains specialist Daniel Silke  : “  The country's economy was not doing very well before this epidemic. We really cannot afford a further fall from the growing; and this drop in growth will certainly be very significant, which means that a large number of South Africans will lose their jobs. We already have high unemployment, between 30 and 50% depending on the sector. And we are starting to see tensions within the population. I think that an easing of this confinement was necessary to avoid riots.  "

Cuba has also sent 200 doctors to reinforce South Africa to fight the epidemic. South Africa is the continent's country with the most Covid-19 cases, with 4,361 infections, including 86 deaths.

• Aid to soccer players in Cameroon that divides

In the country, the most affected in Central Africa by the new coronavirus, football has been stopped since March 17. And the Federation decided to make a gesture by paying aid of 39 million CFA francs to 44 clubs. Male and female teams are concerned, ie several thousand players. Eighteen million CFA francs return to clubs in the first division, 10 for the second, but only 6 million for women's clubs, explains our correspondent Joël Wadem . Thus, the players concerned individually received less than half of the sums paid to their male counterparts. A revolting situation for the spokesperson for Cameroonian women's clubs: “  25,000 francs per player is ridiculous, the aid is nothing! It's not even a two-day ration. Football is a profession that must nurture its players, whether they are male or female players.  "

Fécafoot recalls that its role is not to support the salaries of players. This aid is a donation, it is up to the teams to pay their players. No date has been set for the resumption of the various championships in the country, which has 1,621 positive cases and 56 deaths.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Coronavirus Info , daily chronicle on the pandemic

• Explanation:  The origins of the Covid-19

• Analyzes:
→  What strategies to face the epidemic ?
→  A vaccine, the only solution to stem the pandemic?
→  What impact on conflict zones?

• Practical questions:
→  What is known about the mode of contagion
→  What results for ongoing clinical trials?
→  How to make a mask and use it well

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

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
•  The science facing the Covid-19
•  The geopolitical consequences

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