Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic on Tuesday May 19

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According to the CDC, the African Union Center for Disease Prevention, the continent recorded on Tuesday, May 19, 88,172 cases of Covid-19, and 2,834 deaths due to the disease. The most affected states are South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.

Publicity

• Election vigil despite the pandemic in Burundi

The global crisis born of the coronavirus pandemic has not dissuaded the Burundian authorities from organizing this Wednesday a triple presidential, legislative and municipal ballot. It must be said that after having been spared the disease for a long time, "  by the grace of God  " according to the spokesman for the presidency, the country has recorded few cases of Covid-19: 42 for a death. Official figures largely undervalued, say local doctors.

► In Burundi, there are more deaths than announced, alert doctors

WHO expert response team was forced to leave the country last week, accused of "interference" by the government, and observers from the East African community had to give up after being told that they should remain in solitary confinement for fourteen days upon arrival in Burundi, which heightens the fear of opponents of "behind closed doors" elections.
Civil society denounces the multiple human rights violations that accompanied the third term of Pierre Nkurunziza, who does not stand for re-election. The national economy was already in tatters before the outbreak of the global crisis.

► Burundi: an economy on the brink

• DRC: the National Solidarity Fund begins its collection

This ephemeral structure set up by President Tshisekedi to collect funds against the coronavirus crisis began its collection on Monday. The first contributor, the National Social Security Fund has released a million dollars. If a bank account and telephone lines have been set up to collect future donations, the Fund hopes first of all to recover all donations already promised or paid to other public institutions.

No quantified objective was given by the leaders of the FNS, which regrets certain groups of the civil society like Lucha, but the committee in charge of the response has already drawn up a budget of 135 million dollars for its plan of fight against the coronavirus.

► DRC: start of fundraising campaign for the fight against Covid-19

The DRC has experienced chaotic management of the epidemic since its appearance on Congolese territory. The country recorded a burst of peaks of new cases in recent days: the cumulative is 1,629 cases including 61 deaths.

► The DRC, giant of central Africa, facing the challenge of the coronavirus

• Slight easing of restrictions in Rwanda

The Rwandan government announced on Monday evening May 18 a further easing of restrictions related to the fight against the coronavirus. The start of the curfew has been postponed from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. until 5 a.m., and civil weddings can resume, but must not exceed fifteen. Mototaxis and trips between provinces will normally resume on June 1. On the other hand, gatherings remain prohibited for the moment, schools, bars, restaurants and places of worship closed. Rwanda has recorded 297 cases (no deaths) but less than 100 are now active according to the authorities.

• Nigeria : confinement extended for two weeks in Kano

The Nigerian government has extended confinement for two weeks in the Kano region in the north of the country, which has become one of the main sources of infection in the country. Authorities will also impose case-by-case containment measures in all regions that have "  an increasing number of cases, when the need arises,  " said the head of the presidential coronavirus committee.

Kano is the second city of the country and an important commercial crossroads in the sub-region. Local authorities initially attributed these "unexplained" deaths to other illnesses, but a government-appointed commission of inquiry later recognized that the coronavirus was probably behind most of the cases. Nigeria has 6,175 cases and 191 deaths officially linked to covid-19 .

• Wearing a mandatory mask in Algeria

The Algerian authorities have decided to make the wearing of a mask compulsory. "  Wearing a mask is just as effective as sanitary confinement, hence the imperative to make it compulsory for everyone  ", according to a press release from the Algerian presidency published Monday evening after a meeting of the Scientific Committee monitoring the evolution of the pandemic. Additional measures (confinement hours, travel between provinces, visits to cemeteries) must still be detailed in anticipation of the Eid el-Fitr festivities this weekend, marking the end of Ramadan.

For the time being, the curfew, the closure of schools and places of worship and the ban on assembly remain in force. The country is one of the most affected on the continent with 7,201 cases reported and 555 deaths reported.

• Tunisia launches contact tracking application

The E7mi application, available on Android and being validated on iOS, has been graciously developed by a Tunisian start-up which usually creates digital marketing tools for foreign companies, the ministry of health told AFP. . If a person using the application is tested positive, the Observatory of Emerging Diseases (ONME) will warn other users who have crossed the path of their phone, based on the information transmitted by the phone to a server.

The users “  will not be able to declare themselves sick, to avoid any false alarm and the notifications received by a user having been in contact with a sick person will be followed by a telephone call from ONME to be sure that there is a follow-up,  "said the Minister.

Tunisia, which also experienced its first death linked to Covid-19 in ten days. The 46th victim in just over 1,000 cases

• A moratorium on Malian debt in 2020

Mali has become the first African country to obtain a moratorium from the Paris Club, after the G20 decision to suspend debt service this year, the French Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. The Paris club brings together some twenty countries, international creditors, and aims to find coordinated and lasting solutions to the payment difficulties of indebted countries. Three other countries obtain this moratorium: Nepal, Grenada and the Dominican Republic, while 77 are eligible, including 41 of the 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa which should repay this year 19 billion dollars. The amounts not paid in 2020 will be spread over three years from 2022, according to Agence France Presse.

• The virus in series in Senegal

It is an event which has captivated Senegalese viewers since the end of April: the mini-series entitled "The Virus" is broadcast every evening on ITV and on the internet. This Wolof soap opera features classic intrigue, love stories, jealousy, but against the backdrop of a pandemic, curfew and quarantine. For its director, it is an effective way to get messages across, says Charlotte Idrac.

► "The Virus": a mini-series in Senegal to entertain and do prevention

• High risk deconfinement on the front page of the African press

At a time when African countries are falling apart, were these measures taken too early? The question is asked by many African newspapers read by Frédéric Couteau this Tuesday.

► Headlines: high risk deconfinement

Our selection on the coronavirus

• Listen to our Coronavirus Info column 

• Our  explanations  :
→  What we know about the mode of contagion
→  Disparities and inequalities in the face of the coronavirus: what must be remembered
→  Triple therapy, Discovery… update on research
→  The race for the vaccine is in full swing
→  How to make a mask and use it well

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

• After Covid-19, towards a new world?

• 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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