Cameroon has registered two new Coronavirus cases as of Monday, April 20th 2020. This is according to the Ministry of Public Health. In its daily press briefing, the ministry said a total of 42 persons have died, and 329 cases recovered from the disease so far.
One hundred million francs CFA is the sum donated by the Senate for the fight against coronavirus. The amount was handed to the Minister of Public Health by the President of the Senate Marcel Niat Njifenji. The money will be deposited in the solidarity fund put in place by the President.
Hygiene and medical kits to be distributed to people in the 360 Sub Divisions in Cameroon to help combat the coronavirus. The items worth 2 billion francs CFA have been donated by President Paul Biya. In a release signed by the Minister of Territorial Administration today, the gifts are not part of the 1 billion COVID-19 solidarity fund.
The Minister of Territorial Administration has described opposition politicians criticising President Paul Biya at all levels as those seeking cheap popularity. In a release announcing gifts from the President to the population, Paul Atanga Nji enumerated other good will gestures taken by Paul Biya during difficult times in Cameroon.
The population of Makepe Misoke in Douala is expressing the need for the government to monitor the process of distributing gifts to the population to avoid unpleasant happenings. At least three died over the weekend in the quarter as they scrambled to get bags of rice donated by the Samuel Eto’o Fils Foundation.
A Total petrol service station has been shut down at BP Cité quarter in Douala due to COVID-19. The manager died of coronavirus while three other workers have been infected. The other workers in the petrol station have been quarantined.
Over 10 illegal health centres have been closed in Maroua- Far North region of Cameroon. The health units operating without authorisation from the Government were closed down in an operation “clean the health sector”. Launched by the SDO for the Diamaré, Jean-Marc Ekoa, accompanied by the Maroua 1 district medical officer Dr MINANG Augustine. Officials say cleaning the sector is paramount now, especially with the growing Coronavirus pandemic.
A New site to treat Coronavirus cases has been identified in Douala. According to officials from the Ministry of Public health, the Mbappe Lepe stadium has been transformed into a temporal hospital to treat COVID-19 cases across the city. Note that this comes after hospitals identified to receive and treat COVID-19 are already full.
African countries should take advantage of the Coronavirus pandemic and join advanced nations in the E-learning process, Professor Fonkeng George. He’s a professor of science in education and was speaking in Buea during a workshop to train lecturers on “how to better adapt to the electronic learning”.
Wounded elements of Cameroon’s defence and security forces hospitalised in Bamenda have benefited support from Government. The aid was distributed in the various hospitals by Brigadier General Nka Valere of the 5th combined military region and Brigadier General Ekongwese Divine of the 5th Gendarmerie legion.
These hospitalised, have different injuries as a consequence of the 4 years running Anglophone crisis.
The Mayor of Bamenda 2, Peter Chenwi has appealed to quarter heads to help get the councils building reopened, by talking to separatist fighters in the different quarters. During a meeting with these stakeholders to chat a way forward, the Mayor said the Bamenda II council can peacefully occupy its seat only with the positive contribution of each and everyone within the council area. Since the present administration took over, they have not had access to the council building, whose keys were doubled by Separatist fighters. Bamenda II council is said to be operating from a temporal building within the municipality.
Nigeria has confirmed 86 new coronavirus cases and 21 deaths – it highest daily figure so far. Officials say they have scaled up testing and so expect figures to increase exponentially. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has confirmed a total of 627 coronavirus cases and 21 deaths. It has imposed a lockdown in the capital Abuja, the commercial city of Lagos, Ogun state and Kano state.
The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital has announced the successful delivery of twins by a 68-year old woman. The chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Council, Prof Wasiu Adeyemo, made the announcement in a statement on Sunday. It said the woman gave birth through an “elective cesarean section at 37 weeks gestation.” The mother and babies are doing well, it added.
A nationwide strike by nurses in Malawi has paralysed operations in public hospitals as the southern African country battles the spread of Covid-19. The nurses are complaining about poor work conditions, being overworked and lacking safety equipment to protect them against coronavirus. Malawi has confirmed 17 cases of the respiratory virus.
A Ugandan opposition MP is being held by police for distributing food to his constituents over weekend in Mityana district, about 70km (45 miles) from the capital, Kampala, the Daily Monitor newspaper reports. Francis Zaake, an independent MP, was arrested in his Mityana Municipality constituency for contravening a presidential directive on food distribution during the ongoing lockdown, Wamala region police spokesperson Rachel Kawala is quoted as saying.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the alleged theft of food packages meant to cushion the poor from hunger during the coronavirus pandemic. The president said the reports were “disturbing and disgusting” adding that the individuals involved in the hoarding, selling or diverting of food aid would be dealt with “harshly”. “Over the past three weeks, we have been confronted with distressing images of desperate people clamouring for food parcels at distribution centres and of community protests against food shortages,” the president wrote in his weekly bulletin.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said people exposed to high levels of air pollution over long periods could face a higher risk of developing severe Covid-19 infections. WHO officials told the BBC they were looking into Asia, Africa and Latin America to help authorities include the risk in their plan to fight the pandemic. They said they were mapping cities that have had high levels of air pollution because it has been linked to respiratory diseases.
(Foreign news: BBC)
