Coronavirus: Africa faces the pandemic Monday, June 22

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Africa counted this Monday, June 22, 306,390 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Covid-19 has already claimed the lives of 8,116 people on the continent, according to the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The countries most affected by the pandemic are South Africa (97,302), Egypt (55,233), Nigeria (20,244), Ghana (14,154), Algeria (11,771), Cameroon (11,892) and Morocco (9,997).

Publicity

• European Union provides medical aid to Burkina Faso

In the presence of the Burkinabè authorities, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation Jutta Urpilainen and the French Secretary of State for European Affairs Amélie de Montchalin, a European Union humanitarian flight landed at the airport on Monday Ouagadougou with medical equipment on board to help Burkina Faso in the fight against the pandemic. In addition to equipment, the EU has planned for the disbursement of an additional 60 million euros for July.  

This special flight also contained computer equipment for the preparations for the next elections in Burkina Faso and medicines for the treatment of malnutrition among children in the IDP camps. Jutta Urpilainen hoped that "  the next elections will take place in good conditions with the participation of internally displaced people, especially young people and women  ". 

• 749 cases and 11 deaths in Malawi

Nineteen new infections have been identified in Malawi in the past 24 hours. Eight were registered in the capital Lilongwe, one in Chitipa, and ten were identified during regular screenings at the Mwanza border. Malawi therefore has 749 cases and 11 deaths according to figures provided by the authorities. 

• In Eritrea, a resurgence of cases in several regions

Eritrea currently has 143 cases and 39 cured, according to information published on Twitter on Sunday by Eritrean Minister of Information Yemane Ghebremeskel. In recent days, authorities have recognized an increase in cases in several regions of the country, notably in the border areas of Sudan and Ethiopia and for the first time a case in the south, in the port city of Assab, while official figures until recently showed a circumscribed spread in the capital, Asmara. According to the minister, the new cases are all people from neighboring countries, Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti. 

• Doctors end strike

Doctors at public hospitals who had been on strike for a week lifted their strike call on Monday morning. They demanded better working conditions and denounced the insufficiency of medical materials and protective equipment against the Covid-19. According to AFP, the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) announced in a press release that this strike movement ended after the intervention of certain personalities and state governors to give the government "time to satisfy the claims presented ”.

On the front line in the fight against the pandemic, healthcare professionals are sometimes the most exposed to contamination. Over 800 health workers have been infected. This is why, in addition to the lack of protective equipment, the doctors' union also asked for a risk premium for the carers who are at the front. The most populous country in Africa with its 200 million inhabitants, Nigeria has nearly 20,000 cases and 506 deaths according to official data. 

• DRC: Congolese photojournalist John Bompengo dies

John Bompengo had been hospitalized for several days according to his relatives who announced his death Saturday at the age of 52. His death was linked to a complication due to Covid-19. This photojournalist worked for Radio Okapi, Monusco radio station and several press agencies including Associated Press since 2004. He covered all the major crises of these two decades in the DRC, including that of Ebola in 2018.

Andrew Drake, the Africa manager at AP, who worked with John Bompengo, remembers him as "  a loyal colleague and an excellent narrator  ". "  John could go to places and capture pictures that others could not have,  " he said. All the Congolese press paid tribute to him on Sunday. 

• Sudanese returnees from Egypt

A convoy of eight buses carrying nearly 500 Sudanese nationals left Cairo on Saturday, according to the official Sudanese news agency Suna. The borders being closed due to the health crisis, the latter were blocked in Egypt. Their repatriation was made possible thanks to a collaboration between the Sudanese Embassy in Cairo, the association of the Sudanese community in Egypt with the Egyptian authorities. 

• In Gabon, the next reopening of hotels and restaurants

The Gabonese government has announced the resumption of the activities of restaurateurs and hoteliers, without giving a precise date. The borders are still closed, this measure aims to revive domestic tourism. The almost four months of closure were heavily felt in the sector's figures. But before any reopening, the owners of hotel and catering establishments must take care to implement sanitary measures for the reception of customers. 

• Seven players from the South African national locust team tested positive

On more than 100 tests carried out within Cricket South Africa (CSA), the executive body of this sport in South Africa, the results of seven people were positive, announced this Monday Jacques Faul the acting director general of the organization. These contaminations may further delay the resumption of sports competitions in the country, while the CSA had scheduled a match next Saturday. The meeting was finally canceled because it had not been approved by the government and especially because it was to be held in an area identified as one of the centers of the epidemic.

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