Burundi new Vaccination campaign, Covid-19 death and more
The Briefing Issue #71, Monday, April 13, 2020
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BURUNDI IN THE HEADLINES
Dear Readers,
The Burundi Government announced this Monday that a patient who tested positive for COVID19 and hospitalized at the Kira hospital in Bujumbura died following complications from other pathologies he had.
According to a statement made by the Burundi Ministry of Health, the patient was a man in his forties who succumbed from other complications in addition to COVID19 on Easter.
The number of people who have tested positive for COVID19 is 5 including three in good evolution and who will be handed over to their families in the coming days adds the Ministry of Health statement.
Meanwhile this Monday Burundi launched a measles vaccination initiative aiming to immunize more than 17,000 children in the northwest of the country.
The initiative hopes to reach children between nine months and 15 years old in Cibitoke province, local medical officer Dr. Norbert Mugabo told reporters.
"This vaccination comes during unusual circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic. We have a big challenge in convincing people after rumors circulated that a vaccine against COVID-19 would be tested in Burundi. This is not true and the Ministry of Health has stressed that Burundi will never accept these tests," he told reporters.
READ ALSO: Why total lockdown is a huge challenge for many of African cities
Burundi Elections Updates
The Burundi Electoral Commission CENI is organizing a 2-day training session for members for its Provincial (CEPI) and communal (CECI) representatives in Gitega.
The members of CEPI and CECIwill be trained on how to assemble the voting booths, the use of the voting booth, the use of the single ballot, the tools for centralizing the results, the transmission of election results 2020.
An awareness campaign on the election procedures will also take place from April 15 to 25, 2020 on the hills and neighborhoods of Burundi.
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In the Weekend
On Saturday local media reported the death of the famous Burundian musician, Léonard Niyomwungere, in Malawi. This Burundian icon is a victim of COVID-19. Burundi mourns a personality who marked the world of music with his constructive messages.
1180 companies have been registered by Burundi Investment Promotion Agency from January to March 2020 with the possibility of creating more than 5,000 jobs. The director of this agency announced this Friday the establishment of a platform of professionals responsible for supporting farmers Burundi
IN THE REGION
The COMESA Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS) has recorded over $138 million dollars and nearly one million Euros in value transacted through the nine participating Central Banks over the last five years ending 31 January 2020.
According to the Executive Secretary of the COMESA Clearing House (CCH) Mr. Mahmood Mansoor, this value is expected to grow as more Central Banks from within and outside the COMESA region have shown interest to join.
The nine countries whose Central Banks are on the system are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Eswatini, Uganda and Zambia Central Banks of Burundi, Djibouti, Sudan, and Zimbabwe are in advanced stages of preparations for live operations.
According to Mr. Mansoor, the Central Banks of Tunisia and Somalia have been engaged by the CCH for admission. Non-COMESA countries such as Nigeria and Ghana have expressed keen interest to join the REPSS.
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