Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic Tuesday, May 12

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According to figures from the African Union Center for Disease Prevention (CDC), the continent had this Tuesday May 12 67 677 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 2 340 deaths due to the disease. South Africa is the most affected country, ahead of Egypt and Morocco.

Publicity

• A “new phase” in the management of the pandemic in Senegal

It is Senegal's turn to soften the measures taken to stem the spread of the coronavirus. In his third address to the Nation since the start of the crisis, President Macky Sall announced several measures on Monday evening. The curfew is shortened, places of worship can reopen, businesses operate 6 days a week, and students who take exams will return to school on June 2. But the Senegalese will have to "  learn to live in the presence of the virus  " added the head of state, who insisted that there be no "  relaxation  " but "  adaptation  ", a word that has come up several times in his speech.

In places of worship, schools, markets, and restaurants, wearing a mask will remain mandatory. In a statement, the bishops of the Catholic Church said that the suspension of masses and public celebrations remains in effect for the time being. Another announcement: the bodies of Senegalese who died from Covid-19 abroad may ultimately be repatriated.

► Senegal: Macky Sall announces “a new phase” in the management of Covid-19

To date, the country registers 109 new positive cases, in total 1 995 confirmed cases, including 1 233 under treatment, 19 deaths. The press highlights a "  paradox  " in this "  coronavirage  "

► Coronavirus in Senegal: Macky Sall announcements in the press

The coronavirus crisis is economic as well as health, as illustrated by the situation in Saly. This seaside town, a hundred kilometers from Dakar, is now a “ghost town” deprived of tourism which represents 10% of Senegal's GDP. Our correspondent William de Lesseux went to see it on the spot.

► Senegal: the tourist town of Saly has become a ghost town because of the Covid-19

• Mutiny in Lomé prison, detainees fear Covid-19

The guards of the Lomé prison quickly restored the situation to normal after a movement of mood of the prisoners this Tuesday morning. The detainees refused to allow those tested positive for coronavirus to be brought back to the cell. They demand the release or the relocation of these people. This prison is overcrowded with more than 1,500 detainees for 600 places and is regularly the subject of reports by human rights organizations. However, according to information from our correspondent Peter Dogbé , the most famous prisoner, the half-brother of President Faure Gnassingbé, Kpatcha Gnassingbé, was exfiltrated on Tuesday morning.

► Togo: mutiny at Lomé prison

• The bell rang in Benin, the Kenyan teachers do not want to resume

Schools in Benin reopened yesterday Monday after more than 40 days of closure. According to our correspondent Jean-Luc Aplogan , the students are reluctant to keep the mask all day, the teachers remain worried, but the government has promised free masks, handwashing devices and the continuation of mass screening of teachers.

Resumption of classes at Sainte Rita College in Cotonou

Jean-Luc Aplogan

In Kenya, on the other hand, schools are still closed, and teachers understand that they will remain closed until appropriate measures have been taken. The union demands guarantees: the reconfiguration of classes to ensure the necessary social distance, the prohibition of travel and school events, and above all, the massive disinfection of all establishments before reopening. 460 universities, colleges and primary schools now serve as quarantine centers for patients with Covid-19. Resuming classes in these places would be a nightmare, insists the union.

► Deconfinement in Kenya: angry teachers demand

However, Kenyan restaurants have resumed service, and tourism is waiting to be able to do the same.

• Ivory Coast: ramp-up of screenings and committed artists

The Ivorian authorities want to put screening at the heart of their response strategy. Six out of thirteen sampling centers are currently operational in Abidjan. The economic capital concentrates 98% of the 1,730 cases identified so far in the country. The samples taken are then sent to the Institut Pasteur, where Pierre Pinto went , and which has the famous real-time PCR machines for detecting Sars-COV2. Between 300 and 500 daily tests are carried out.

► Fight against the coronavirus in Côte d'Ivoire: screening at the heart of the strategy

At the same time, while restrictions have been eased inside the country, the curfew remains in effect until Friday in Abidjan. Awareness does not weaken. Since the beginning of April, an association of creators has been working punctually in the popular commune of Yopougon, in particular via workshops for making masks, hydro-alcoholic gel and soap. Our correspondent Sidi Yansané attended one of his workshops.

► Côte d'Ivoire: artists raise awareness in the fight against Covid-19

• Many reactions to Andy Rajoelina's interview

The day after his visit to RFI and France 24, the performance of the Madagascan president is widely commented, reports our correspondent Sarah Tétaud . For some, the nationalist fiber and the denunciation of Westerners hit the bull's eye. The dithyrambs make it a "new Sankara", a bottle of Covid-organics in hand, a drink that he praises everywhere in Africa despite the warnings of the WHO, the organization recalling that no medical proof of its effectiveness n 'exist. Others believe that the energy of the head of state would be much more useful in setting up a recovery plan and in bringing many Malagasy people out of misery and hunger. Some, on the other hand, denounce its "  opportunistic pan-Africanist  ", "  conspiratorial  ", and await the results of clinical trials carried out by the African Union, Senegal or even South Africa.

► Madagascar: Pan-African health in Rajoelina finds positive feedback

• First flight of returnees to Gabon

A first wave of Gabonese stranded abroad returned to Libreville yesterday Monday, coming from Douala, Cameroon. Twenty people among the 1,200 or so who have applied for government in 23 countries. Our correspondent Yves-Laurent Goma was getting off the plane.

Return of the first Covid-19 returnees to Gabon

Yves-Laurent Goma

• Resumption of Air France flights in Cameroon

With the “  Very High Agreement  ” of President Paul Biya, the Cameroonian government authorizes the resumption of commercial flights of the company Air France, at the rate of one flight per week and alternately in Yaoundé and Douala, and this until June 30. Passengers must present a negative coronavirus test upon boarding, and undertake to self-confine upon arrival in Cameroon, where they must be followed individually. The authorities insist on wearing a compulsory mask and respecting barrier gestures for passengers and Air France staff.

• Prolonged confinement until the end of Ramadan in Algeria

The Algerian government extended the measures until May 29, after the end of Ramadan. On the move to Oran, the Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Djerad called on the population to "  individual and collective responsibility  " in the face of cases of indiscipline, in particular by continuing to wear the mask.

The authorities had to close many shops, reopened at the start of the fasting month, in almost half of the country's 48 prefectures, including Algiers, because of non-compliance with the rules of hygiene and social distancing. Including clothing and shoe stores, hair salons and pastries. Algeria reports 5,891 cases and 507 victims.

• Crisis hits Malian cotton

After milk yesterday Monday, RFI tells you this Tuesday about another sector hit by the consequences of the crisis: cotton. In Mali, producers will lose more than a fifth of their income during the 2020/2021 campaign. The guaranteed “field price” (the producer price) guaranteed was set at 200 CFA francs per kilo instead of 275 CFA francs for the previous campaign, explains Stanislas Ndayshimiye.

► Cotton producers in crisis in Mali

Our selection on the coronavirus

• Listen to our daily chronicle  Coronavirus info

• The practical questions  :
→  What is known about the mode of contagion
→  disparities and inequalities in coronaviruses: what to remember
→  What outcomes for clinical trials?
→  A vaccine, the only solution to stem the pandemic?
→  How to make a mask and use it well

• Our series  : "  The response, country by country  "

• Each evening, find the State of the world and Africa facing the pandemic

• 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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On the same subject

Coronavirus in Senegal: Macky Sall's announcements in the press

Coronavirus in Gabon: repatriation of some 20 nationals stranded abroad

Coronavirus control in Ivory Coast: screening at the heart of the strategy