Updates on the fight against the Corona Virus (COVID-19)
The Briefing, Issue #40, Monday, January 17
Dear Readers,
This Monday, January 17, the Embassy of the Republic of China to Burundi recommended the quarantine of Burundian students recently returned from China.
Amb. Li Changlin asked these students to limit their outings and not to participate in tin public events, and to take the temperature twice a day for 14 days.
Foreign students have been incorporated into Chinese Coranavirus prevention & control mechanisms and systems. These foreign students are entitled to the various services offered in special circumstances.
“China is a "hospitable" and "responsible" country which attaches "great importance to the health and safety of foreign students", including those from Burundi, through multifaceted assistance in the face of the threat of the deadly coronavirus”-
Amb. Li Changlin, reassured
The temporary visa freeze for Burundian students and businessmen is one of a series of preventive measures taken against the spread in Burundi of the coronavirus.
China’s fight against the COVID-19 is well underway, as medical experts labor to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Over 10,000 patients recovered and were discharged from the hospital. The target now is to improve admission rates, followed by reducing infection and mortality rates.
As Aljazeera reported today, that the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China reached 1,770 as of the end of Sunday, up by 105 from the previous day, according to the country's National Health Commission.
At least 100 of the new deaths were from the province of Hubei, the epicenter of the epidemic, the commission said on Monday morning. Across the country, there were 2,048 new confirmed infections, about 1,933 from Hubei alone, pushing the new total to 70,548.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Feb 5 that a US$675 million preparedness and response plan covering February to April 2020, had been initiated by the international community for China and globally to protect states with weaker health systems.
WHO has prioritized support for 13 countries on the basis of their close transport links with China: Algeria, Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Meanwhile, the first African known to have contracted the deadly coronavirus, share his story with BBC on how he recovered.
“For 13 days he remained in isolation in a local Chinese hospital. He was treated with antibiotics and drugs typically used to treat HIV patients. After two weeks of care he began to show signs of recovery.
The CT scan showed no trace of the illness. He became the first African person known to be infected with the deadly coronavirus and the first to recover. His medical care was covered by the Chinese state”
Africa's preparedness efforts have been boosted with $25 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with some of it going towards training.
15 experts from the African Union received training on laboratory diagnosis for 2019-nCoV in Dakar, Senegal. WHO is also supporting training in Ethiopia and other countries on isolation and treatment and care of infected patients.
Biotech group launches test for coronavirus product
Biotechnology company Novacyt (an international diagnostics business generating an increasing portfolio of in vitro and molecular diagnostic tests) said it had launched a "CE-Mark" molecular test to help detect the coronavirus, marking a step forward in plans to commercialize a product for the disease. The "research use only" test produced a result in less than two hours.
As a result of the CE-Mark, the Company’s COVID-19 test can be used directly by laboratories and hospitals for the testing of patients without the need for validation by clinicians. The Company anticipates increased demand for its test for COVID-19 due to this extended use for clinical diagnosis.
According to DW, as of late last week, only two African countries — Senegal and South Africa — had laboratories capable of testing and confirming samples for the virus.
This situation has changed. Now 19 African nations are able to test for Covid-19, including Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia and Sierra Leone, WHO Africa clarified in an email.
Fabrice Iranzi
Founding Editor, RegionWeek
IN THE REGION
A popular Rwandan gospel singer who was found guilty in 2015 of conspiracy to murder or harm President Paul Kagame has been found dead in a police cell in the country’s capital, the authorities have said. It comes three days after he was arrested near the border with Burundi. Police accused him of attempting to flee the country and join rebel groups fighting against Rwanda. He is banned from leaving Rwanda due to a previous conviction. Kizito Mihigo killed himself in Kigali on Monday, a police statement said. The 38-year-old was an ethnic Tutsi survivor of the Rwanda 1994 genocide. (BBC, Guardian)
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is set to meet on Friday with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in a bid to diffuse months-long tension between their two countries. The two heads of state will meet at the Katuna border point, with some local media outlets reporting that an agreement will be signed. Relations between Rwanda and Uganda deteriorated in 2019, leading to the closure of their borders. Each side also accused the other of detaining its citizens without following the due legal process. (CGTN)
Authorities in Tanzania's northern district of Mwanga on Sunday ordered at least 25,000 villagers around Nyumba ya Mungu dam to evacuate to safer areas because the dam is on the brink of bursting after overflowing from ongoing heavy rains. The Mwanga district defense and security committee in the Kilimanjaro region said failure to evacuate from areas close to the dam will force the authorities to dispatch police to remove the villagers. At its peak, an estimated 3,500 fishermen are reported to be active on the reservoir amongst a population of 25,000 who have settled in 26 fishing villages around its perimeter. (Xinhua)
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