Cameroon as of today counts 5356 coronavirus cases. 3326 have been treated and 177 have died of the pandemic. Figures given by the Ministry of public health.
Massive COVID-19 tests were carried out today at the Prime Ministry. According to a communiqué from the Star building, the tests were carried out from 9 AM today.
Cameroon’s Minister of decentralisation and local development has asked all Mayors to disinfect all academic institutions in their municipalities before schools resume on June 1st. Minister Georges Elanga Obam also urged them to put in place measures to foster hygienic practices.
PM Dion Ngute has called for the treatment of COVID-19 with dignity. In a cabinet meeting today in Yaounde, members of government reflected on what has been done so far for school resumption next Monday June 1st. Contrary to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Cameroon, the PM congratulated members of government in the fight against coronavirus.
The Governor of the North West undertook a campaign against coronavirus in markets in Bamenda today. Adolf Lele L’Afrique called on people to respect COVID-19 measures to stay safe during this period.
The special back to school 1st June 2020 has been reaffirmed by members of government in Cameroon despite resistance from teacher’s trade union. During a cabinet meeting in Yaounde May 28th 2020 chaired by PM Dion Ngute, members of government reassured that all was in place for classes to begin on Monday June 1st. The government said schools have been equipped with anti COVID-19 materials and the implementation of this measures will be strictly supervised
Residents of Ndop in the North West Region remain disgruntled with administrative officials for sealing shops at the Ndop Main market. The shops were sealed on the 18th and 19th of May as traders respected ghost town imposed by separatists.
Some private school teachers have expressed their dissatisfaction with calls by trade unions for government to postpone school resumption. After going for over two months without pay, having school resumption postponed will see them go for long without any salaries. Examination classes and University students resume classes on June 1st 2020.
Three persons have sustained third degree burns, two elements of the fire fighting unit severely wounded, and enormous material damage recorded in the dormitory section of the Douala Central Prison in New Bell . This follows a fire incident that broke out in the penitentiary facility at 2 PM Wednesday May 28th 2020.
According to the Governor of the Littoral Region Samuel Deiudonne, no prisoner escaped during the fire incident. The cause of the inferno is still unknown
The image of Cameroon military suffers another blow. This follows the arrest of a gang of five bandits of Cameroonian nationality in Lome, Togo with two of them identified as military men in the Cameroonian army. According to a report from a local TV channel in Togo, the suspected bandits have been terrorising people in Togo for some time now with guns. The Ministry of defence has not commented on that.
Four unarmed boys killed in Boudouma- Buea in the South West Region of Cameroon. A military source accused the boys of being armed bandits while residents say the boys were not armed. They were shot dead in an uncompleted building.
Cameroon’s President of Senate has been evacuated to Switzerland for medical attention Thursday May 28th, 2020. Reports have it that the 85 years old Senator, Marcel Niat Njifenji is critically ill and needs serious medical attention.
Senior discipline masters in the Moungo Division of the Littoral Region say the are afraid of their safety in schools as classes begin Monday June 1st. Speaking in a capacity building seminar in Loum, the school discipline masters say the decision to open schools Monday is exposing them to death as schools have not been equipped with thermoflashes to prevent them from COVID-19.
They suggest that government organises public examinations based on materials already covered.
The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has called for a greater effort to counter coronavirus at a time when there is evidence it is increasingly being spread within the community in countries across the continent. John Nkengasong said it was time to test people with flu-like symptoms and to increase measures like social distancing, the wearing of masks and hand washing. So far the virus has multiplied more slowly in Africa than in Asia or Europe.
Gunmen have killed dozens of people and wounded many others in a series of attacks on several villages in Nigeria’s north-western state of Sokoto, according to police and residents. The authorities say, so far, 59 bodies have been recovered while a search operation for more victims is underway. This is one of the most deadly attacks in several years in Sokoto – one of the states affected by gunmen who often target communities to kill or kidnap people for ransom.
The cost of exporting goods by air freight from East Africa has fallen as the number of flights from the region has increased. It is encouraging for exporters who recently complained that airlines, which had lost passengers amid lockdown, had doubled their charges for air cargo. In April, cargo flights from Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport had dropped from 45 planes, carrying 210 tonnes per day, to just two aircraft transporting 35 tonnes. This is according to the airport’s ground handling service National Aviation.
Police in Mozambique have deported 43 sex workers who were arrested for violating coronavirus restrictions. They included Zambians and Zimbabweans who were arrested in an operation last week, the authorities said. About 109 people were arrested for violating the state of emergency rules in Beira city. They included sex workers, traders and people found drinking along public roads.
Zimbabwe’s coronavirus cases have more than doubled from 56 to 132 in under a day. The majority of the cases are from people returning from neighbouring South Africa and Botswana, many of whom are in quarantine centres all over the country. In the central city of Gweru, at least 19 people who were yet to be tested escaped from one centre. The area’s Member of Parliament has urged families to turn them in. The government has warned that the country could still report mores cases despite the overall low numbers.
Doctors in Tanzania have denied being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic after a recent warning by the US embassy about the risk of “exponential growth” in cases in the country. The embassy said hospitals in the main city, Dar es Salaam, were “overwhelmed” and that the chance of contracting the virus was “extremely high” – but did not give any evidence to back up its claims. But the head of Tanzania’s medical association Elisha Osati has told the BBC that hospitals are operating as normal and that the majority of coronavirus inpatients are suffering from mild symptoms.
About 400 people have escaped from a coronavirus quarantine centre in Malawi’s second largest city, Blantyre, after complaining about its poor state. Local media has reported that the escapees were quarantined on arrival from South Africa and were yet to be tested for coronavirus. They had complained that the stadium, which was turned into a quarantine centre, lacked water, toilets and food.
A number of Ghanaian opposition lawmakers want parliament to be temporarily closed. The West African country has so far confirmed about 7,000 cases and 34 deaths. Speaker Mike Oquaye last week told Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff to be tested for the virus before sittings resumed. There are fears that MPs could be exposed to infections and some lawmakers have proposed the introduction of virtual parliamentary proceedings as a stop-gap measure.
(Foreign news: BBC)
