Coronavirus: Africa and the pandemic on Thursday June 11

School children line up outside their school on the day it reopens in Cape Town, South Africa, June 8, 2020. REUTERS / Mike Hutchings

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Africa counted this Thursday, June 11, 210,153 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Covid-19 has already claimed the lives of 5,692 people on the continent, according to the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The countries most affected by the pandemic are South Africa (55,400 cases), Egypt (38,300), Nigeria (13,900), Algeria (10,500), Ghana (10,400), Cameroon (8,700) and Morocco (8,500).

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  • Pandemic " accelerates " on the continent, says WHO

The World Health Organization notes that if it had taken Africa 98 days to cross the 100,000 case mark, it only took 18 days to reach the 200,000 patients tested positive for Covid-19 . WHO regional director Matshidiso Moeti adds that contamination within communities is now taking place in more than half of the 54 African countries.

One of the main continental challenges remains the insufficient number of tests. However, the Botswana doctor believes that there is nothing to indicate that the number of serious cases and deaths is largely underestimated. But "  while waiting for an effective vaccine, I fear that we will have to live with a regular increase in the region,  " warns Matshidiso Moeti.

Africa currently has only 3% of cases recorded worldwide. A situation that could be explained, according to WHO, by the youth of the continental population but also by the border health control measures already in place in the context of the fight against epidemics of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, in particular. In addition, adds on RFI Issaka Tiembré , from the National Institute of Public Hygiene in Côte d'Ivoire, "  the fact that the disease has declared itself elsewhere has enabled African countries to prepare  ."

  • African Union announces continental platform for medical supplies

The idea is to "  unblock the supply chain  " so that Africa can buy the tools necessary to fight the virus according to Dr John Nkengasong, director of the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC) . The Cameroonian promises that the 55 AU members will have access to 90 million tests in the next six months (to be distributed according to demographic criteria). The pan-African organization contacted "  multiple suppliers  " in China, Europe and elsewhere in the world.

The CDC boss also says "  really encourage Tanzania to cooperate  " by sharing his data on the new coronavirus SARS-Cov2. We remain optimistic,  " he insists. The number of official cases remains blocked at 509. President John Magufuli certified Sunday, June 7 that his country had got rid of the virus thanks to divine powers.

  • Being confined or losing your job: Congolese mine workers caught in a pincer

Eleven Congolese and international civil society organizations, including Amnesty international and Human Rights Watch, challenge mining companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . NGOs point to a "  disturbing image  ": while the world, Africa and the DRC are facing a pandemic, some companies do not hesitate to force their employees to stay on the extraction sites 24/7 7 under penalty of being dismissed.

Lack of food, water and adequate space in overcrowded workplaces is never acceptable, let alone during a global pandemic. This is why we wrote to multinational mining companies in #RDC so that they could do better. https://t.co/jXGhbQa6gZ pic.twitter.com/246ht9ipyD

  RAID (@raidukorg) June 11, 2020

This practice of forced containment has been noted on "at least six mining sites" in the past two months according to a letter  sent Thursday June 11 to 13 companies as well as to the provincial governments of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga (southeast). It specifically concerns: Sino-Congolaise des Mines (SICOMINES), Compagnie Minière de Musonoie (COMMUS), Somidez (Deziwa mine), Kalukundi Mining (LAMIKAL), Kamoa-Kakula mine and Kalumbwe Mining Myunga (MKM).

Human rights organizations more generally note the lack of protection of staff against the coronavirus but also the living conditions for those forced to confine themselves on site (unsanitary toilets, cramped rooms, lack of food and water). The NGOs call on mining companies to make the well-being of their employees a priority and to end any containment policy that is mandatory for them.

The ground floor of the DRC is full of raw materials such as copper and cobalt. The South African, she specializes in platinum, chrome, gold and diamonds. Resources whose production dropped by 47% in April (-18% in March) compared to the same month last year. The surface mines resumed work in early May, while the underground mines had to wait until June 1 to recover their maximum capacity. But South African unions are worried about the risk of contamination in an environment where social distances are difficult to respect. 821 cases have been reported in the mining industry in South Africa so far.

  • Health professionals in Madagascar worried

Lack of means, lack of training, lack of recognition and financial compensation, the Grande Île paramedical union is sounding the alarm in the fight against the Covid-19. The nurses, caregivers and midwives consider themselves insufficiently prepared and protected against the disease which has already killed 10 people and contaminated 1,203 people. Among them, around twenty nursing staff, but the figure is probably underestimated in view of the few tests carried out.

"  The basic conditions are not met to face the pandemic, denounces on RFI Jerisoa Ralibera, a nurse in a hospital in the capital and president of the paramedical union. There is sometimes a breakdown of protective equipment in health centers or the center reuses single-use protective equipment, such as over-gowns or other equipment, which can be decontaminated. There is also an insufficient number of paramedics who take care of the sick in the community.  Demonstrations are scheduled for Friday, June 12.

  • Chad volunteers to test a treatment

The Chad is showing interest to participate in the test phase of a potential treatment against Covid-19, as an injectable solution. The deputy director of President Idriss Déby's cabinet, Abdelkrim Idriss, was in the evening of Wednesday June 10 at Ivato airport in Antananarivo with the Madagascan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Djacoba Tehindrazanarivelo. N'djamena came to recover a new shipment of Covid-organics, the drink presented by the Malagasy authorities as a preventive and curative of the disease caused by the new coronavirus. This drink was "  a positive experience in Chad  ", according to Abdelkrim Idriss, quoted by L'Express de Madagascar .

  • In Côte d'Ivoire, authorities tighten the screw

While the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing sharply in Côte d'Ivoire , the government is strengthening the barrier measures: borders closed until June 30; wearing a mandatory and more controlled mask; increased controls also at the entry and exit of Greater Abidjan, still isolated from the rest of the country; authorized gatherings of 50 people maximum (against 200 previously).

  • African press undermined by consequences of pandemic

In Nigeria , The Punch and Vanguard , two of the country's largest dailies, announced at the end of May drastic budget cuts which, among other things, involved dozens of layoffs in their newsrooms, as a result of the health crisis. Officials from the main Nigerian journalists' union have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to provide emergency aid to the distressed media. But many fear that this situation of dependence will only increase political interference.

In Kenya , some media have reduced the half wages. At the same time, faced with the rapidity and severity of the crisis, calls for help from information professionals to the government have increased. In response, Kenya unveiled on June 6 the creation of a special fund of around 900,000 euros described as "  historic  " to help some 150 broadcasters weather the storm.

In Madagascar , the written and audiovisual press is subject to the dictates of official information. The government of Andry Rajoelina, which, since the start of the coronavirus crisis, forced the media to broadcast the authorities' announcements on the pandemic, has just pushed the interference even further. The regime is taking advantage of this requisition to broadcast propaganda messages  ," said AFP Nadia Raolimanalina, head of information service for MBS television and publication director of the newspapers Le Quotidien and N'y Vaovaontsika .

Due to the aftermath of the health crisis in Uganda , a major weekly print shop has ceased operations. In Namibia , schedules have been cut and layoff plans have accelerated. In Cameroon , private newspapers even organized a “dead press” day to denounce the lack of reaction from the public authorities.

  • Made in ... Uganda and Ghana

In Uganda , automaker Kiira Motors is to manufacture artificial respirators. The Ugandan Minister of Health made the announcement on the social network Twitter, saying "  proud to see such innovations coming from us  " and impatiently waiting to see these Bulamu respirators arriving in the services dedicated to patients of Covid- 19 and other patients who may need it.

Glad to unveil the Bulamu ventilator locally made by @KiiraMotors. Proud to see such innovations from our very own.
I look forward to Bulamu Ventilators in our health facilities not just for COVID-19 patients but also for other patients who may require them. Well done teams. https://t.co/2MiqgVVMyw

  Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng (@JaneRuth_Aceng) June 11, 2020

In Ghana , nine companies are hoping validated their test kits in eight weeks to help the country mitigate measures against the spread of the new coronavirus. Among them, the company Incas Diagnostic is also working with other developers in South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal to set up an application for monitoring people at high risk of being contaminated by the virus.

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
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