Burundi: First Lady Denise Nkurunziza hospitalized in Kenya

Pierre and Denise Nkurunziza, October 13, 2017, in Bujumbura. STR / AFP

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The Burundian First Lady has been hospitalized for several days in Nairobi. Denise Nkurunziza arrived in the Kenyan capital on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, in a flight by the AMREF health organization. The wife of President Pierre Nkurunziza is taken care of in the Aga Khan private hospital, one of the most renowned in Kenya. Several sources confirm that she has Covid-19.

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With our correspondent in Nairobi, Sébastien Németh

Several sources, in Burundi and Kenya, confirm that Denise Nkurunziza is being treated in Nairobi, after catching the Covid-19. Hospitalization while the First Lady and her husband have been repeating, however, for several months, at a meeting or during preaching, that the Lord protects Burundi from the epidemic.

"  We can meet without masks, because God purifies the air of the country,  " said President Nkurunziza after the transfer of his wife.

In this context, it is not surprising that the Burundian authorities wanted to remain discreet. According to the Kenyan press, Denise Nkurunziza was transported in an isolation cell, accompanied by doctors and bodyguards. She arrived in the middle of the night, when the airports of Bujumbura and Nairobi had turned off their lights and kept the staff away.

Kenyans have questioned a possible free pass, since Nairobi prohibits foreigners tested positive from entering its territory. In fact, a few hours later, the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the embassies to specify the conditions under which a patient could be accepted in Kenya, with special equipment and permits of all kinds.

We will see if Bujumbura keeps its line on the epidemic, while several sources confirm that the Burundian Minister of Health was hospitalized last week in Nairobi, after having also contracted the coronavirus.

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  • Burundi
  • Kenya
  • Coronavirus

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