Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic Monday, June 8

Text by: RFI Follow

Africa counted this Monday, June 8, 189,434 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Covid-19 has already claimed the lives of 5,175 people on the continent, according to the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The countries most affected by the epidemic are South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria.

Publicity

• Schools reopen in South Africa

In South Africa, students return to school on Monday. According to the Minister of Education, Angie Motshekga, 95% of schools have fulfilled the requirements required to guarantee a safe return to school. The reopening of the schools was postponed by a week to ensure the sending of masks and protective equipment. For the moment, only students in the last year of primary or secondary return to class. The other levels must return more gradually. The local media have shared many videos on the social networks of the many barrier gestures that accompany this return to school.

#SchoolsReopening: We are at the Pohopedi Primary School in Poortjie this morning where Grade 7 learners have returned to school. MEC Panyaza Lesufi will be visiting the school. (@CannyMaphanga) pic.twitter.com/zaaDFfgWm3

South Africa is entering a new phase of deconfinement on Monday. The places of worship were able to welcome the faithful again this Sunday. The national parks, which welcome six million tourists each year, reopened this morning.To date, the country has registered 48,285 confirmed cases and 998 deaths.

The number of cases is increasing rapidly, particularly in the mining sector. In the provinces of Limpopo and the North-West, a third of the new cases are minors or their families. For now, there are officially only 673 positive cases in South African mines, but forget that only 2% of employees have been tested. So the authorities are worried, especially in the province of Limpopo, which is asking for a reduction in mining activity by half to avoid any spread. The imminent return to South Africa of 10,000 miners, mainly Mozambicans and Basotho - a request made by the mining giants - also raises fears of a new wave that could explode national figures.

• No resumption this Monday for Togolese students

In Togo, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Affoh Atcha Dédji denies rumors that the schools will reopen on Monday. "  Unlike the date of June 8 that relay social networks, the government will communicate officially and in due time, the date of reopening of schools,  " he wrote in a statement.

The teachers, inspectors and heads of establishments have however returned to their posts since June 2 to prepare for the next school year. Schools have been closed across the country since March 20.

Contrary to what is relayed on social networks, the @GouvTg will communicate officially and in due time, the date of the reopening of schools. pic.twitter.com/wvIKTsYM13

• Deputy Prime Minister of South Sudan recovered from Covid-19

First Vice-President Riek Machar and his wife, Defense Minister Angelina Teny, were both declared cured of Covid-19 on Saturday, three weeks later, according to a statement by South Sudanese authorities in local media. have been tested positive. They are scheduled to resume work on Monday. In South Sudan, the political class has been hit very hard by the coronavirus: Information Minister Michael Makuei and Vice-President James Wani Igga have also been tested positive, as has the entire task force of the responds to the coronavirus, except the Minister of Health.

• Uhuru Kenyatta extends the current curfew

In Kenya, President Kenyatta has decided to extend the curfew in place since March 27 for an additional month. But this curfew is now in effect between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. instead of 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. The isolation of Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera from the rest of the country is also maintained for at least 30 days, as is the ban on assembly. As for schools, they will not reopen before September 1, says the head of state.

On the other hand, President Uhuru Kenyatta affirms that the interior and health ministries must meet this week an interfaith committee to discuss the protocols to put in place for the reopening of places of worship. The Ministry of Transport must also develop in the coming days the rules for the resumption of domestic flights.

• In Nigeria, a new governor tested positive

Okezie Ikpeazu, the governor of Abia state in southern Nigeria, tested positive for Covid-19 and was placed in quarantine. He is the fourth governor of a Nigerian state to contract coronavirus, after those of the state of Bauchi, Kaduna and Oyo.

• In Tanzania, the president declares the country " free " of the virus

Tanzanian President John Magufuli said this Sunday in a church in the capital Dodoma that the country was "  freed from the coronavirus  " thanks to the prayers of the citizens. “  We prayed and fasted for God to save us from the pandemic. And God heard us  , ”he said to the faithful. The Tanzanian authorities have refused since the end of April to release statistics on the number of cases and deaths in the country. The last one dates from April 29 and reports 509 positive tests and 21 deaths.

• Mediterranean rescue operations resume for Sea Watch

The German NGO Sea Watch announced on Monday that it would resume its rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, after having implemented preventive measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 on its boat. After three months of immobilization, the Sea Watch 3 left the Sicilian port of Messina to go off the Libyan coast. The entire crew underwent a fortnight and a screening test before their departure. Rescue operations for migrants at sea had stopped in early April.

As the # SeaWatch3 makes her way to the search and rescue area, our crew is constantly practicing standard safety and rescue procedures as well as an extra batch of # COVID19 prevention measures. Our objective, as always, is to keep everyone - crew and guests - as safe as possible. pic.twitter.com/3VdAewISQd

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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• Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic
• Coronavirus
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