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AFP
Bamako
Four countries led by war-ravaged Mali on Wednesday joined the lengthening list of African countries hit by the novel coronavirus as fears of the disease swept members of Nigeria’s political elite.
Mali, mired in an eight-year-old conflict, said two nationals who had returned from France had tested positive for the virus.
Libya, another conflict-torn country, as well as the volatile West African state of Guinea-Bissau and Uganda in East Africa also reported their first cases of COVID-19.
More than 2,400 cases were recorded in all of Africa as of Wednesday, according to an AFP tally, with 64 deaths.
Although the toll is far lower than those recorded in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, health experts say the world’s poorest continent is especially vulnerable to the virus.
Conflict, in particular, is a major factor in aggravating the risk.
Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012 which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.
The conflict has since spread to the centre of the country, and large swathes of the vast semi-arid state lie outside of government control.
The government, which earlier banned commercial flights from virus-stricken countries, appealed for the public to “remain calm and to strictly respect the recommended preventive measures”.
The UN on Wednesday placed the spotlight on the Central African Republic (CAR), also gripped by conflict.
CAR “is one of the least prepared countries to face a COVID-19 outbreak, with 2.2 million people already in need of health assistance and about 70 percent of health services provided by humanitarian organisations,” the country’s coronavirus Global Humanitarian Response Plan warned.
In the Nigerian capital Abuja, meanwhile, fears spread of coronavirus infection among senior politicians.
A number of state governors as well as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were in self-isolation after coming into contact with two individuals infected with COVID-19.
According to the president’s office and local media, one of them is President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, one of Nigeria’s most influential figures.
The political elite “is in panic mode following the confirmed case of the chief of staff,”a source close to the presidency said.
“As the engine room of government, (Kyari) has contact with various segments of the society. So everybody who has had contact with him since he returned from Germany is jittery. Most of us are in self-isolation.”
Nigeria’s elite often jet abroad for private medical care, typically favouring Britain or the United States, rather than entrusting themselves to the country’s rundown hospitals.
“STUCK!”, said author Elnathan John on social media. “Nowhere to run.”
Bamako
Four countries led by war-ravaged Mali on Wednesday joined the lengthening list of African countries hit by the novel coronavirus as fears of the disease swept members of Nigeria’s political elite.
Mali, mired in an eight-year-old conflict, said two nationals who had returned from France had tested positive for the virus.
Libya, another conflict-torn country, as well as the volatile West African state of Guinea-Bissau and Uganda in East Africa also reported their first cases of COVID-19.
More than 2,400 cases were recorded in all of Africa as of Wednesday, according to an AFP tally, with 64 deaths.
Although the toll is far lower than those recorded in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, health experts say the world’s poorest continent is especially vulnerable to the virus.
Conflict, in particular, is a major factor in aggravating the risk.
Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012 which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.
The conflict has since spread to the centre of the country, and large swathes of the vast semi-arid state lie outside of government control.
The government, which earlier banned commercial flights from virus-stricken countries, appealed for the public to “remain calm and to strictly respect the recommended preventive measures”.
The UN on Wednesday placed the spotlight on the Central African Republic (CAR), also gripped by conflict.
CAR “is one of the least prepared countries to face a COVID-19 outbreak, with 2.2 million people already in need of health assistance and about 70 percent of health services provided by humanitarian organisations,” the country’s coronavirus Global Humanitarian Response Plan warned.
In the Nigerian capital Abuja, meanwhile, fears spread of coronavirus infection among senior politicians.
A number of state governors as well as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were in self-isolation after coming into contact with two individuals infected with COVID-19.
According to the president’s office and local media, one of them is President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, one of Nigeria’s most influential figures.
The political elite “is in panic mode following the confirmed case of the chief of staff,”a source close to the presidency said.
“As the engine room of government, (Kyari) has contact with various segments of the society. So everybody who has had contact with him since he returned from Germany is jittery. Most of us are in self-isolation.”
Nigeria’s elite often jet abroad for private medical care, typically favouring Britain or the United States, rather than entrusting themselves to the country’s rundown hospitals.
“STUCK!”, said author Elnathan John on social media. “Nowhere to run.”
