Kenya, Ethiopia join expanding set of African states with coronavirus
14 March, 2020
Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Guinea and Mauritania all confirmed their first cases of the brand new coronavirus on Friday, giving the condition a foothold in 19 countries on photography equipment.
Africa had as yet largely been spared the rapid spread of COVID-19, which includes infected at least 135,000 persons and killed around 5,000 worldwide.
Most of Africa's reported cases were foreigners or persons who had travelled abroad. Rapid testing and quarantines have been put in location to limit transmission.
But concerns are growing about the continent's capability to handle the disease.
Cases have already been reported in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Mauritania's health ministry said late on Friday that its first coronavirus patient is a European man - nationality not specified - who had returned to Nouakchott on March 9 and had since been in quarantine.
The numbers of cases in almost all of the countries remain in single figures.
Senegal confirmed 11 new cases on Friday, raising the total in that West African nation to 21. Its health ministry said 16 have been infected by the same man who had returned from Italy.
Among those confirming first cases on Friday, Kenya may be the richest economy in East Africa and a hub for global companies and the United Nations, while Ethiopia is Africa's second-most populous nation, with 109 million people. Addis Ababa and Nairobi are regional transit hubs.
In Nairobi, the Kenyan authorities banned all major public events and said they would restrict foreign travel. The mayor of Addis Ababa urged citizens to avoid close personal contact but Ethiopia's health minister said there were no plans to cancel flights.
Travellers fall sick
Kenyan Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said the country's first case, a 27-year-old Kenyan, was diagnosed on Thursday after travelling home via London on March 5.
He said the government had traced the majority of the people she had been in touch with, including fellow passengers on her behalf flight, and a government response team would monitor their temperatures for the next two weeks.
The Ethiopian case was a 48-year old Japanese national who arrived in Ethiopia on March 4, medical ministry said.
Guinea's first case was a worker of europe delegation who had self-isolated after she felt ill after returning from Europe, the EU delegation said.
Sudan's first confirmed coronavirus case was a guy who died on Thursday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, medical Ministry said. He previously visited the United Arab Emirates in the first week of March.
Halting the spread
Kenyan Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said the government had suspended all public gatherings, sports, open-air religious meetings and events "of an enormous public nature". Schools will stay open but inter-school events were suspended.
Public transport operators must install hand sanitizers in their vehicles and clean them regularly, Kagwe said, while foreign travel will be restricted.
Immediately after the announcement, shoppers in a single Nairobi supermarket were buying up cart plenty of staples such as maize flour and water, along with hand sanitizers and soap.
Kenya Airways suspended flights to China last month and on Thursday added Rome and Geneva to the set of suspended destinations.
Kenya, which relies heavily on Asian imports, has seen disruptions to its supply chain and a decline in tourism, an essential way to obtain hard currency and jobs.
"We will be hit badly," Tourism Minister Najib Balala told journalists.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange halted trading in the afternoon after the main NSE 20 share index dropped by more than 5% following news.
Mauritius, an island nation off the coast of East Africa whose economy depends on tourism and financial services, has yet to report any COVID-19 cases but said it had been offering liquidity to banks to support struggling organizations hit by the impact of the virus and cutting banks' cash reserve requirements.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com