Coronavirus: Africa and the pandemic on Saturday June 6

The African Union wants to triple the number of tests. Here in Durban, South Africa, April 4, 2020 REUTERS / Rogan Ward

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According to Africa CDC, the African Center for Disease Control Prevention, the continent recorded 177,953 cases of Covid-19 this Saturday, and 4,936 deaths due to the disease. South Africa and Egypt and Nigeria are still the two plays most affected by the pandemic.

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• Extension of the curfew in Senegal

Third country most affected by the new coronavirus in West Africa, with more than 4,000 officially detected cases and 45 deaths Senegal has decided to extend the state of health emergency this Friday .

Senegal: the resurgence of cases of coronavirus worries the authorities

On Twitter, Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, the Minister of the Interior, maintained the curfew across the country between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. and recalled the obligation to respect health and physical distancing rules. Popular events outside gyms, casinos and restaurants are also prohibited.

🇸🇳 ORDER PROVIDING A TEMPORARY PROHIBITION ON TRAFFIC pic.twitter.com/62Y4j3I61E

  Aly Ngouille Ndiaye (@Aly_Ngouille) June 5, 2020

TWEET ANNOUNCEMENTS NGOUILLE NDIAYE

🇸🇳 ORDER PROVIDING A TEMPORARY PROHIBITION ON TRAFFIC pic.twitter.com/62Y4j3I61E

- Aly Ngouille Ndiaye (@Aly_Ngouille) June 5, 2020

• Senegal continues treatment with hydroxychloroquine

“  Given the controversy, we will only use our results to make decisions. We will therefore continue the treatment with hydroxychloroquine. These are the words of Professor Moussa Seydi, in charge of the care protocol for patients with Covid-19 in Senegal. In a press conference this Saturday, June 6, he assured, that "  Hydroxychloroquine is effective in reducing viral load, in preventing complications that can lead to death, and it is a treatment that is well tolerated  ".

The Senegalese professor is based on the analysis of 559 patients, whose hospital stay is shorter than for patients who do not take hydroxychloroquine with, with an average of 10.5 days in hospital against 13 days for others. It also ensures that 100% of patients who took the molecule before the onset of complications are cured, and that only 2% of them have had side effects, "mild and reversible without additional treatment".

• The African Union wants to triple the number of tests

The continent has so far conducted 3.4 million tests, a number that the director of the African Center for Disease Control Prevention (CDC Africa) John Nkengasong would like to increase to 10 million in "  two to three months  ", has he said at a press conference in Addis Ababa.
Current data indicates a rate of 1,700 tests per million people on the continent, far behind the 30,000 tests per million inhabitants in the United Kingdom or 37,000 per million in Italy, said M. Nkengasong.

As of Thursday morning, Africa had registered a total of 162,000 cases and 4,600 deaths since the start of the new coronavirus epidemic, with an average of 5,400 new cases per day over the past seven days.

These numbers could increase significantly as countries relax the restrictive measures taken to stem the epidemic.
"Our situation will surely get worse before it gets better," Nkengasong predicted. "  As we begin to loosen containment measures, part of the balance between saving lives and saving the economy , we expect to see these statistics increase,  "he added.

The CDC Africa has already distributed 2.5 million tests to members of the African Union. But some countries are experiencing shortages.

• Angélique Kidjo: "The Covid was a moment of reflection, which confirms that we must remain humble"

For Angélique Kidjo , African music star known for her activism and her experiences of fusion between African and Western music, the coronavirus pandemic as the current demonstrations against racism in the United States have exposed the flaws of a capitalism that 'it calls for reform.
Unicef ​​Ambassador, the singer, who will be 60 on July 14 - two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the independence of Benin where she was born - has recently recorded a version of the anti-apartheid hit "Pata Pata", from South African legend Miriam Mabeka, with reworked lyrics to encourage distancing from the pandemic.

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
→  Triple therapy, Discovery… update on research
→  Remdesivir, antibodies and immunity
→  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  ”
→ “  Nurses  ' words

After Covid-19, towards a new world?

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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