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by Sophie Bouillon and AFP bureaux in Africa LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Equipment shortages, scarce beds, and poorly-paid doctors and nurses: Africa is finding that it has few means to protect itself as a feared coronavirus tsunami looms. Earth’s poorest continent has so far confirmed around 1,800 cases and 57 deaths — a tally that is low compared with Europe, the Middle East, and Asia but is now ratcheting up quickly as testing remains patchy. […]
TUNIS, Tunisia (AFP) — Tunisian police arrested more than 400 people for breaking a night-time curfew imposed to fight the spread of coronavirus, the authorities said Monday. Around 30 of the 408 transgressors who were arrested remained in custody, while the others were released after a warning, Interior Minister Hichem Mechichi told reporters. “Anyone who breaks the security rules will be treated as a criminal because failing to respect rules within the context of the […]
by Susan NJANJI PRETORIA, South Africa (AFP) — Numerous sub-Saharan countries acted to stem the spread of coronavirus on Monday, with South Africa announcing a soldier-patrolled lockdown and Senegal and Ivory Coast each declaring a state of emergency. The pandemic had been slow to spread in Africa compared to the Middle East and Europe, but in recent days the number of deaths and infections has increased, sparking concerns about the continent’s vulnerability to contagious diseases. […]
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — A second senior military officer in Egypt has died of the new coronavirus, state television reported Monday, as the officially declared death toll stood at 14 from 327 cases recorded nationwide. Major General Shafee Dawood, head of major infrastructure projects at the military engineering authority, became the latest high-ranking figure in Egypt to die from COVID-19 in hospital. His death comes after Major General Khaled Shaltout, the army’s chief of water […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa on Wednesday recorded its highest 24-hour increase in coronavirus infections to date, with 31 new cases taking the country’s tally up to 116, the government announced. Africa’s most industrialized economy is the most affected in sub-Saharan Africa and second-most impacted on the continent after Egypt, which has recorded 196 cases. The country’s first coronavirus infection, confirmed on March 5, was detected in a man who had arrived from […]
BANJUL, Gambia (AFP) — The Gambia has recorded its first case of coronavirus, the country’s health minister said on Tuesday, after the government also announced measures to contain its spread. In a televised statement, Health Minister Ahmadou Lamin Samateh said officials in the tiny West African state had confirmed infection in a young woman who had recently traveled from the United Kingdom. She went into self-isolation after feeling feverish, before being confirmed as a positive […]
DAKAR, Senegal (AFP) — Liberia announced its first case of the novel coronavirus on Monday, becoming the 27th African country to confirm the illness. The patient is the head of Liberia’s environmental agency and had recently returned from Switzerland, the information ministry said in a statement. “The country has registered its first case of coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19,” it said. “The government urges everyone to remain calm. Health officials continue to search for all […]
VICTORIA, Seychelles (AFP) — Seychelles has confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus, which has now hit 25 countries in Africa, largely spared by the pandemic until recently. Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon announced late on Saturday that two citizens returning from Italy on March 11 had tested positive for the virus. “As we learnt these two people had been in contact with a sick person, we decided to do the tests this morning and […]
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AFP) — Mauritania has confirmed its first case of novel coronavirus, the country’s health minister said on Friday, adding to the growing number of cases in West Africa. In a televised statement, Health Minister Mohamed Nedhirou Ould Hamed said the case involved a foreigner who tested positive on Friday. “He was immediately isolated and the state has all the means at its disposal to take care of those suffering from the virus,” the […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Kenya announced Friday the first confirmed case of coronavirus in East Africa, as the region so far unscathed by the global pandemic scaled up emergency measures to contain its spread. A 27-year-old Kenyan woman tested positive for the virus on March 12 in Nairobi, a week after returning from the United States via London. She was in a stable condition and recovering, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told reporters. “We wish to […]
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Thirteen people were injured when two passenger trains collided Thursday in the Egyptian capital, the health ministry said, triggering a brief suspension in nationwide rail services. It said the casualties of the crash involving passengers from Upper Egypt were ferried to Cairo hospitals. The signals tower was not functioning because of bad weather conditions, the rail services said, leading to one train crashing into the other which was stationary. Rail authorities […]
LUXOR, Egypt (AFP) — Egyptian authorities said Wednesday that 46 French and US tourists who had been quarantined on a coronavirus-hit Nile cruise boat have flown home. They were among dozens of foreign tourists and Egyptian crew who had been either confined to the vessel or hospitalized after an outbreak of the virus. A health ministry statement said that the repatriated French and American tourists had left the A-Sara cruise boat overnight, noting that 45 […]
