Cameroon now counts 730 positive cases of coronavirus as of Wednesday April 8th 2020. According to officials from the Ministry of health, 415 cases are found in the Center Region, 255 in the Littoral, 51 in the West, 05 in the South and 04 in the South West Regions. The Minister also said 60 cases have recovered and 10 deaths recorded since the outbreak in March 2020.
Political parties in Cameroon are to table proposals on how to tackle the Coronavirus. This will take place tomorrow Thursday in a meeting to be chaired the Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. For weeks now, party leaders have been calling for such a meeting to permit them participate in the fight against COVID-19. They have been instructed to go along with written proposals. Kamto’s idea to support Cameroonians was rejected and termed illegal but has since raised over 260 million FCFA in just three days.
Test kits and related materials to effectively combat the spread of Coronavirus in Cameroon have been handed down to regional Governors. This is within the guidelines to decentralise the fight against COVID-19. Last minutes information from the Ministry of Public Health says 17 new COVID-19 cases where recorded today, with 1 in the East Region. The new case in the East Region, was on transit for Mora in the Far North Region.
Cameroon is poised to start the production of chloroquine to tackle the spread of coronavirus . Madeleine Tchueinte, Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation says what they lack now is raw materials that can be ordered from China and will be delivered in two weeks.
Following the ban on their initiative to collect solidarity funds against COVID-19, Honourable Nourane Fotsing says she has tabled her demand for authorisation from the Minister of Territorial Administration- Paul Atanga Nji. On her social media page Wednesday April 8th 2020, the MP said she had a 45-minutes tête-a-tête with the Minister, during which they discussed petinent issues including the recent ban on her COVID-19 solidarity project.
The Senior Divisional Officer of Wouri division has visited some travel agencies in Douala to enforce a decision for people to wear face masks most especially when using public transport.
The Minister of Secondary Education has debunked rumours that schools will resume on the 20th of April for the third term. Pauline Nalova Lyonga mentioned that today in Yaounde. She added that only the PM will announce the day for school resumption.
Bar. Ashu Emmanuel has applauded the decision of the Minister of Territorial Administration banning any private initiative by political parties to raise funds and fight against coronavirus. To the lawyer,it is forbidden by the law. He blames the government for permitting Cabral Libii earlier in 2018 to raise funds out of Cameroon for political activities.
The Cameroon Renaissance Movement political party has promised to respond to the Minister of Territorial Administration- Paul Atanga Nji, after the ban on its project dubbed Cameroon Survival. The party said a reply is being prepared through the national President of the party Professor Maurice Kamto. Minister Paul Antanga Nji in a decision on Tuesday April 7th, declared the COVID-19 solidarity fund project of the CRM was illegal.
There is fear and panic in the East region where some passengers of National Voyages agency were quarantined after one of them allegedly died of COVID-19 in a bus bound for the region from Yaounde. While the corpse was taken to the mortuary in Bertoua, the bus was disinfected and its other occupants quarantined.
Complaints by health personnel about lack of protective gear as they combat coronavirus may soon be a thing of the past. Cicam and Sodecoton today set a target to produce 20 thousand facemasks daily as well as protective clothing for healthcare professionals.
Days after a teenager was killed by runoff in Buea, some parts of the town witnessed floods once more today. Heavy rains left some areas including the newly reopened market near OIC flooded.
Residents of Kompina in the Mungo division have been without electricity for months now after two transformers got bad. “Ever since but nothing has done about it. In some parts like quarter 5, lights went off since on the 24 night of December 2019” a local complains.
Some companies exploiting natural resources in Cameroon may lose their licenses if they don’t abide by rules governing the sector. The Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Gabriel Dodo Ndoke has given them 60 days from April 1, 2020, to restore sites affected by their activities.
What impact will the Social Democratic Front party have in the national assembly?After results of legislative election rerun, it is certain that the party has five MPs as opposed to 18 during the last legislature. SDF has therefore lost the privilege of forming a parliamentary group.
A 70-year-old man has been assassinated by members of the Boko Harram terrorist group in the Far North region of Cameroon. In an attack Tuesday night April 7th 2020, members of the Boko Harram sect burnt and destroyed the Touro health center in the Mayo Sava Division of the region. Villagers were forcefully displaced as their livestock were killed.
Seychelles will from midnight on Wednesday shut down non-essential services and restrict the movements of people for 21 days to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The announcement comes after a 26-year-old Seychellois man, who works as a ground handling staff at the ‘ international airport, tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, bringing the nation’s total cases to 11.
Liberia’s President, George Weah, has declared that a state of emergency should begin at 11:59pm local time on Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Weah has called for an emergency session of parliament so that MPs can endorse the order that will impose restrictions on movement across the country.
A private hospital in South Africa has been closed to the public after 66 people, 48 of them staff, tested positive for Covid-19, South Africa’s Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, has said. The health ministry had been worried about St Augustine’s private hospital in the coastal city of Durban for a number of days now.
A new report has warned of the risk of serious violence ahead of Burundi’s elections scheduled for next month. The International Crisis Group (ICG) said the government’s collection by force of public contributions toward the poll is increasing tension in the volatile country. The scheme was meant to end last year, but the ICG says the Imbonerakure youth militia continues to collect money and goods.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is the latest African leader to defend the World Health Organization (WHO) and its head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus against attacks by US President Donald Trump. Mr Trump tweeted on Tuesday that the WHO was “very China-centric” yet it is “largely” funded by the US. He warned that he could stop funding the global health organisation.
Residents of Abule Ado, in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, have been hit hard by the ongoing lockdown after their houses were destroyed in an explosion in March, caused by a lorry hitting some gas cylinders. The homeless people have had to sleep outside or in crowded houses disregarding advice from the World Health Organization on social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The Tunisian authorities have warned that those infected with coronavirus who contaminate others and disobey government measures to halt its spread could be charged with manslaughter. Interior Minister Hichem Mechichi said the government would strictly apply the law in order to fulfil its responsibility to protect the people. Tunisia has imposed a night-time curfew and restrictions on movement during the day.
Ten police officers in Uganda have been charged for allegedly torturing a group pf women while enforcing a lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Uganda Police Force said on Tuesday. The officers were accused of caning 38 women and forcing them to swim in mud in the northern town of Elegu.
South Africa’s communications minister has been suspended for two months – one of which will be without pay – for having lunch with a friend during the coronavirus lockdown. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has been the talk of the town since a photograph of her eating with Mduduzi Manana surfaced this week.
(Foreign news source: BBC)
