South China Morning Post – Jevans Nyabiage
- Continent has now recorded two deaths, a German tourist in Egypt and an 89-year-old woman who had travelled from Italy
- North Africa is particularly vulnerable to spread of Covid-19 because of close links to Europe and Middle East
African countries are scrambling to contain the Covid-19 outbreak after Morocco reported one fatality and two other countries confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes the disease, which has so far killed more than 4,000 people worldwide.
On Tuesday, Morocco’s health ministry announced that an 89-year old woman had died as the country’s total number of infections rose to three. The ministry said the patient, a Moroccan national with chronic health problems, had travelled to the country from Bologna in Italy.
To curb its spread, the North African country banned “all events in which more than 1,000 people participate”, including soccer matches.
It also cancelled all flights to and from Italy, the worst affected European country, where more than 630 people have died and over 10,000 infected.
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The Italian government has placed the whole nation of 60 million people in lockdown.
The Moroccan case is the second Covid-19 death in Africa, following the death of a tourist in Egypt.
The German was on a Nile cruise, from which more than 40 people have now tested positive.SCMP TODAY: INTL EDITION NEWSLETTERGet updates direct to your inboxSUBSCRIBEBy registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Africa, had mostly been spared until mid-February, but in recent days it has seen a rising number of cases, mostly in West and North Africa.
North African countries are particularly vulnerable to the spread of the disease through Europe and the Middle East due to their proximity to, and extensive airline links with, the two regions.
In particular, most of the cases confirmed in the continent have links to either France or Italy.
On Tuesday, two more countries – Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo – reported cases, while Egypt, South Africa and Tunisia said more people had tested positive.
In total 11 African countries have now reported cases.
The West African landlocked country of Burkina Faso confirmed its first two cases from a couple, one of whom had recently returned from France.
They are currently quarantined in hospital.
The disease was also confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country that was worst hit by Ebola, after a Congolese who returned to Kinshasa from his home in France tested positive for the coronavirus.
The World Health Organisation said the case had been confirmed just as the country’s largest Ebola outbreak appeared to be winding down, with no new cases of the disease confirmed in the past 21 days.
“It is sad to hear that just as the DRC appears to be near ending its worst Ebola outbreak, a new virus is threatening the health of its citizens,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
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The WHO said the infrastructure put in place for the Ebola response may help contain the disease in the Central African nation.
“Some of the readiness efforts put in place during the Ebola outbreak may help the country respond to Covid-19. WHO is here to support you, just as we continue to do in the Ebola response,” the organisation said.
It said it has provided technical and material support to countries in Africa, including the DRC since the Covid-19 outbreak was declared to be a public health emergency of international concern.
It now has 39 laboratories in the WHO African region that can test for the disease and it has dispatched personal protective equipment for health workers, as well as thermometers and other essential supplies for screening and handling suspect cases at airports and other points of entry.
The case in DRC came hours after South Africa said four more people had tested positive, bringing the total to seven in the country.
The South African department of health said it has embarked on a “rigorous campaign of tracing every person the seven individuals have been in contact with since returning to South Africa over a week ago”.
The seven were part of a group of 10, who recently returned to South Africa from a skiing holiday in northern Italy, where they reportedly contracted the virus.
“They went as a group of 10 but only nine returned, while the other one travelled to the UK. In the process, of those nine, one took ill and showed symptoms. He was diagnosed last week,” said health minister Zweli Mkhize.
Africa readies for coronavirus as Senegal and Morocco confirm first cases 3 Mar 2020
Health ministers from the Southern African Development Community, which has 16 members including South Africa, met and agreed to harmonise and coordinate their efforts to respond to Covid-19 in the region.
“We agree that although only one country in the SADC region has reported confirmed cases of Covid-19, SADC countries will shift to response mode,” said Stergomena Tax, the body’s secretary general. “Member states need to institute peer review mechanisms to validate self-assessment reports on readiness.”
Devanand Moonasar, acting chief director for communicable diseases at South Africa’s National Health Department, said the unified approach taken by China presented a valuable lesson for Africa, specifically around the value of a skilled workforce, dedicated resources and efficient and transparent data reporting and sharing practices.
“I think that China’s efforts in lowering the numbers in the way that they did is quite remarkable and should be lauded,” said Dr Moonasar.
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