Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic on Saturday May 16

The population masks to take to the streets in Antananarivo in Madagascar, May 16, 2020 (Image of illustration). AFP / Rijasolo

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According to figures from the African Union Center for Disease Prevention (CDC), the African continent had 78,613 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Saturday 16 May and 2,642 deaths from the disease. South Africa is the most affected country, ahead of Egypt and Morocco.

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  • Niger is unconventional ...

Deconfinement has started in some countries of the continent. In Niger, after the reopening of places of worship on Tuesday, the government has decided to lift the isolation measure . "  In view of the improvement in the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Council of Ministers has decided to lift the isolation of Niamey and consequently the liberation of interurban passenger transport activities  ", according to the text.

"  In case of deterioration of the situation, the government reserves the right to reconsider these decisions  ", warns the government. Schools will reopen on June 1, the government said. Niger has known 51 deaths since the beginning of the epidemic for 885 cases.

  • ... Congo-Brazzaville too

In Congo-Brazzaville, Prime Minister Clément Mouamba unveiled this Saturday, May 16, the government's plan for deconfinement in stages. The Congo was thus divided into two zones. In Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, the two main cities of the country and which represent the first zone because of their high prevalence, free movement will intervene from Monday, May 18.

These two cities remain cut off from the rest of the country; the curfew remains in force and the school for students in so-called exam classes will resume from June 1.

►Also listen: Congo: the informal sector is organizing for deconfinement

The Congolese Prime Minister specifies the measures now applied in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire: “  First, the break in work at the hours arranged by the employers, without violating the curfew for non-essential activities. Second, the removal of derogatory travel authorizations and certificates, as well as passes for personal vehicles. Third, the free movement of personal vehicles carrying no more than four people. Fourth, the resumption of intra-urban public transport, the resumption of passenger air transport between Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, is postponed to a later date. "

  • Kenya closes borders with Tanzania and Somalia

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on Saturday the closure of the land borders with Tanzania and Somalia and extended the main measures implemented in the country to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, in a televised address to the Nation.

"  If we do not take additional measures and if we do not respect more seriously those already in force, the number of people who will fall ill and die will increase sharply,  " he warned.

The cessation of all movement of people and vehicles, except goods, "  will take effect today at midnight  " on the borders with Somalia and Tanzania, said the Kenyan president.

►Also listen: Coronavirus in Kenya: test campaign in the Kawangware district, in Nairobi

"  Among the positive cases registered this week in the country, 43 had recently crossed the border with Somalia or Tanzania  ", that is to say almost a quarter of the 166 cases registered during the same period, justified the Kenyan president.

President Kenyatta also announced the extension until June 6 of the national night curfew (7 p.m. to 5 a.m.) and the ban on entering or leaving the metropolis of Nairobi and the counties of Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Mandera. To date, Kenya has recorded 830 positive cases, including 50 deaths and 301 recoveries.

  • WHO doctors left Burundi

The four WHO officials , declared persona non grata by the government and ordered to leave the country before Friday, finally left Bujumbura this Saturday early in the afternoon, according to airport sources.

They took place aboard a plane chartered specially by Monusco, and whose final destination is Entebbe in Uganda, according to a source of the UN Mission in the DRC.

Gitega has decided to expel the four WHO officials in Burundi including the representative and the entire response team against the Covid-19, while the country is accused of hiding these positive cases a few days before the triple ballot of Wednesday, including a presidential election.

  • Idriss Déby takes control of crisis management

Strongly criticized for its management of the crisis, the Security and Health Watch Committee in charge of the fight against the coronavirus was dissolved Friday in the Chadian Parliament.

A new structure, lighter and directly under the authority of the President of the Republic, Idriss Déby, has been put in place. The Health Crisis Management Committee (CGCS) is responsible for defining and implementing the national management strategy for the Covid-19 pandemic. Out of 488 officially declared cases, 48 ​​people died.

  • Young man killed in Angola by soldier

A teenager was killed in Luanda by a soldier who was enforcing restrictive measures to try to stop the coronavirus epidemic in Angola, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

17-year-old boy "  shot dead  " by soldier while "  allegedly  " demonstrating against army enforcing mask and curfew imposed in capital Angolan, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry considers the soldier's fatal shooting "  homicide  " and has opened an investigation. Angola has so far officially identified 48 cases of coronavirus, two of which have been fatal.

  • An application to fight against the virus in Burkina Faso

The Ministry of Health has just launched a digital tool as part of the fight against the coronavirus. It is an information platform on the management, prevention, diagnosis and real-time monitoring of the spread of coronavirus disease through WhatsApp and Facebook.

This data collection will be used to feed a dashboard and a map of the pandemic in Burkina Faso. According to the Minister of Health, this platform, which brings together four digital solutions, will be used to break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus.

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  • Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic
  • Coronavirus
  • Health and Medicine
  • Africa
  • Niger
  • Congo Brazzaville
  • Kenya
  • Burundi
  • Chad
  • Angola
  • Burkina Faso

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