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by Ish MAFUNDIKWA HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Buckets and jerrycans in hand or in wheelbarrows, dozens of Zimbabweans stand close to each other in a long queue, patiently waiting at a borehole in Harare’s middle-class Mabelreign suburb to collect water. While this is a daily sight, this week things are different. The water-short southern African country is starting to enforce a 21-day lockdown to try contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus. People are supposed […]
by Abdellah CHEBALLAH ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) — A year after the unexpected downfall of Algeria’s longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the ailing octogenarian remains holed up in his plush and medically adopted home, with his detractors still demanding justice. Bouteflika assumed the presidency in 1999, reigning omnipresent over Algeria’s political life until a stroke rendered him largely invisible in 2013. Since he resigned under pressure from protesters and the military in April 2019, the public has […]
CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — Guinean President Alpha Conde has announced a night-time curfew and restrictions on movement out of the capital to help curb coronavirus, according to a decree read on national television. In addition to the 9pm-5am (2100-0500 GMT) lockdown, “the movement of people from Conakry to the interior of the country is forbidden” except for special exemptions, said the decree, issued late Monday. The impoverished West African state has officially recorded 20 cases […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Six of Africa’s 54 nations are among the last in the world yet to report cases of the new coronavirus. The global pandemic has been confirmed in almost every country, but for a handful of far-flung tiny island states, war-torn Yemen and isolated North Korea. In Africa authorities claim they are spared by god, or simply saved by low air traffic to their countries, however, some fear it is lack of […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa, which has the highest numbers of confirmed coronavirus infections on the continent, will start mass door-to-door screening and testing for coronavirus, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday. The “unprecedented” exercise will be launched in the next few days, with at least 10,000 field workers deployed across the country of 57 million people, he said in an address to the nation. “We are now entering a new phase in the […]
TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Libya’s justice ministry announced Sunday over 450 prisoners were being freed in a bid to protect against the spread of coronavirus in the wake of the war-torn country’s first declared infections. Judicial officials decided to “free 466 detainees from correctional facilities” in Tripoli, according to a statement by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord’s justice ministry. The detainees were in pretrial detention or had qualified for conditional release, the statement added. […]
by Tsirisena MANJAKAHERY with AFP bureaux in Africa Agence France Presse No one can remember ever seeing as many people heading out of Antananarivo along national highway number 7. Madagascans have joined the exodus in their hundreds in recent days, forming long queues to get away after the authorities declared a lockdown to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. Richard Rakotoarisoa hit the road during the morning, surrounded by dozens of […]
by Sofia CHRISTENSEN and Susan NJANJI with AFP African bureaux Agence France Presse JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa recorded its first two deaths from the novel coronavirus on Friday as the number of confirmed cases breached the 1,000 mark just hours after a three-week nationwide lockdown swung into action. “This morning we wake South Africans up with sad news that we now have our first deaths resulting from COVID-19,” Health Minister Zweli […]
by Sophie Pons with Algiers, Rabat and Tunis bureaux RABAT, Morocco (AFP) — In Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, workers in informal jobs fear not only the novel coronavirus, but how they will survive emergency measures that have cut off their livelihoods. “We are stuck at home, with no work and no pay,” said Hakim, a 30-year-old father who until last week worked in a bar-restaurant in the Moroccan capital Rabat. His boss told employees he […]
ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria on Wednesday received test kits and protective gear from China’s richest man, Jack Ma, to help fight novel coronavirus, which has so far claimed one life and infected 45 others in Africa’s most populous nation. Nigeria’s top health official, Abdulaziz Abdullahi, told AFP that the country had received 100,000 face masks, 1,000 protective gowns and 20,000 test kits. The equipment will be distributed to frontline health workers and hospital laboratories, […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa reported that its number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus jumped to 709 on Wednesday from 554 the previous day, an increase of 28 percent. South Africa, which now has the highest number of infections on the continent, has ordered a 21-day lockdown which rolls into action at midnight on Thursday. “Right now we have actually increased from yesterday, we are now at 709 cases,” Health Minister […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday declared a state of emergency and ordered the isolation of the capital Kinshasa from the rest of the country to avoid the spread of coronavirus. The new measures include a ban on all travel from Kinshasa to the provinces and from the provinces to the capital to allow for the confinement of the city, he said. “Given the seriousness and the dangerous nature […]
