Coronavirus: Africa and the pandemic on Thursday May 14

Text by: RFI Follow

According to figures from the African Union Center for Disease Prevention (CDC), the African continent had, on Thursday, May 14, 73,176 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 2,496 deaths due to the disease. South Africa is the most affected country, ahead of Egypt and Morocco.

Publicity

• UN regrets expulsion of WHO team in Burundi

The UN Commission of Inquiry into Burundi reacted to the decision of the Burundian authorities to expel the WHO team from the country . She said she "  deeply regrets  " and expressed her "  concern  " over the "  decision of the Burundian authorities not to apply the recommendations for social distancing  " while the electoral meetings attract thousands of people ahead of the elections scheduled for May 20.

The representative and three other WHO officials have until Friday to leave the country. It remains to be seen how they will do it since the Melchior Ndadaye airport in Bujumbura is closed to all traffic. The head of Burundian diplomacy denounces their supposed "  interference  ". Officially, Burundi has only 27 cases and a single death, but the management of the authorities is considered "  opaque  " by some, and opponents ensure that the government hides the sick.

• Prisoner releases still expected in DRC

Congolese authorities say they fear a prison catastrophe if the Covid-19 spreads. Releases were announced to free up space in the main detention centers in Kinshasa, Makala central prison and Ndolo military prison, where more than 100 detainees tested positive, but have still not taken place. . Indeed, each file must be studied with attention, explained magistrates and politicians to our correspondent Pascal Mulegwa . The conditions are known: people whose health is weakened by the weight of age, detainees for minor acts, theft of objects or those sentenced to minor sentences or those who have already spent a quarter of their sentences . The DRC registers this Thursday 1,242 cases of Covid-19, and 50 deaths

• Curfew lifted in Abidjan despite an increase in positive cases

In Côte d'Ivoire, after the interior of the country last week, the government announced in the early afternoon the easing in Abidjan of the restrictions due to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The curfew which was still in force in the economic capital is lifted as of this Friday. Bars, scrub and restaurants can reopen on May 15. However, nightclubs and cinemas will remain closed. Schools in Abidjan will be able to reopen on May 25. The borders remain closed until May 31.

These decisions come after many new cases were reported Tuesday and Wednesday (182 positive tests). The authorities highlight the improvement in screening capacities and the fact that more people with symptoms come to be tested. At the last count, there were 1,912 cases and 24 deaths in the country.

• End of the sacred union in Senegal, the Great Mosque of Dakar remains closed

The reopening of the mosques authorized by the Head of State takes place in dispersed order. The Dakar Grand Mosque, for example, remains closed until further notice. For his imam, "  the reasons invoked for the closure of mosques remain today more valid than ever  ". Same caution at the Omarian mosque. The Ministry of the Interior has specified the modalities of reopening places of worship: limitation of the number of people, regular disinfection, wearing of masks, physical distancing and installation of a hand washing device. The Catholic Church, for its part, maintains the suspension of public masses in the country.

On the political level, with the gradual end of the confinement announced by President Macky Sall, the opposition political forces are emerging from the silence to which they have been subjected since the beginning of the crisis, to denounce the "  inconsistencies  " in the management of the head of state. Ousmane Sonko, president of the Pastef / Les Patriotes party, denounced "  a fiasco  ", "  a flip-flop that will have serious consequences  ", and Idrissa Seck's Rewmi party says it is "  disappointed  " by the head of state . Senegal recorded 23 deaths for 2,189 cases of coronavirus.

► Read also : Coronavirus in Senegal: two steps forward, one step back

The Senegalese philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne, author of several works on Islam and teacher at Columbia University in New York, told RFI  his feelings about the situation in Africa and the United States, while most countries choose the deconfinement. He hopes that solidarity will prevail over nationalist withdrawals.

• New relaxation of containment in South Africa, tourism suffering

With more than 12,000 reported cases (219 deaths), South Africa is officially the country most affected by the disease on the continent. But it is also the one with the highest testing capacity. The authorities had put in place an extremely strict containment to stop its spread, but, for the second time since the beginning of the month, the Head of State Cyril Ramaphosa announced its relaxation. "  So far, we have been effective in how we have  dealt with the virus, " he said in a televised speech. "  Without confinement (...) at least 80,000 South Africans would have been infected and the death rate could have been up to eight times higher,  " he said.

The country had already gone from alert level 5 to level 4, and by the end of the month will be at level 3, except for the most affected areas, mainly urban areas, he said. The transition to level 3 may allow the resumption of a certain number of activities in a country where the coronavirus crisis has accentuated several years of stagnation, even recession. The tourism sector is therefore one of the most affected sectors, in particular bush safaris, completely stopped.

► Also to listen: South Africa: the impact of the coronavirus on tourism

• Money transfers plummeting this year

Remittances from African diasporas have declined sharply since the start of the humanitarian crisis. They are expected to fall 23% this year, which has immediate consequences for families benefiting from these transfers.

• A timetable for resuming lessons in Cameroon

The Cameroonian public channel CRTV has communicated the revised school calendar . Classes must resume on June 1. The exams must take place in June and July, the holidays in August and September. For the 2020-2021 school year, the start of the school year is scheduled for October 5 for schoolchildren and October 15 for students.

• No new contamination within the Minusma

The UN force in Mali ensures that there have been no new cases of coronaviruses within it. The number of people tested positive remains at 54, including 38 cured, and 16 "  progressing well  ", according to the Minusma. Its chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif yesterday handed over prevention equipment for the DDR process, which it will distribute in Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu. 

• Fake news abounds in the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic has 221 cases listed at the last count, but on social networks some question the presence of Covid-19 in the country. This information brings many initiatives into disrepute and makes the implementation of prevention actions sometimes difficult in the field. Combating this false information has therefore become important, and initiatives are multiplying.

• The Madagascan government and the " mistakes " of the Pasteur Institute

After a disagreement on the number of cases announced on Thursday May 7 between the authorities and the WHO, the Malagasy government had questioned the work of tests carried out at the Pasteur Institute of Madagascar. An internal investigation resulted in a report delivered to the Prime Minister on Wednesday evening , and cross-tests have been conducted. Out of 56 people tested (among the 67 declared positive by the WHO), only 5 are positive according to the government press release, which affirms that the investigations will continue because "  the elements of response provided on the erroneous results did not allow to elucidate the flaws and those responsible  ”. In addition, the Charles Mérieux laboratory will analyze the next tests at the same time as the Institut Pasteur.

• Foot: stop in DRC, resumed in November in Senegal

The African federations must decide if they will end their championship or if they cling to a possible recovery in the coming months.

After Cameroon, which crowned PWD Bamenda for the first time, or Congo-Brazzaville (the title for AS Otoho d'Oho), the DRC also ended its 2019-2020 fiscal year, awarding the crown to the leader of the championship, the Almighty Mazembe, which therefore retains its title. Others have chosen the “white season” by not assigning a title. This is the case of Burkina Faso, Guinea, Angola, Ethiopia and even Niger.

In Senegal, on the contrary, the Federation estimated last night that it could resume the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championships in November, with play-offs. However, the National Cup and the League Cup are stopped. The recovery is also recorded in September Mauritania for the Super D1, but without relegation. Last to stop, Burundi will be the first to resume. It will be as of May 21, after the general elections.

The Gabonese Federation has yet to decide. Others await political decisions: Tunisia and Algeria have a timetable but no green light from the authorities. Mali, South Africa, Ghana, Benin, Morocco and even Egypt are still waiting.

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  "

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• 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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