•Africa records 5,013 confirmed cases, 157 deaths
•Global figure now 828,305 with 40,735 fatalities
•Sierra Leone confirms man under isolation as index
THE World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, has hailed Nigeria for its efforts in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
The UN’s health agency, in an update in its regional official twitter account @WHOAFRO yesterday, said: “WHO witnessed the commissioning of the 128-bed Isolation Treatment Centre, Ikenne and the 21-bed ITC Sagamu by Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun.
“This is a critical milestone in efforts to combat COVID-19 in Nigeria.’’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said on Twitter that the agency would support all countries in the fight against the virus,.
“Countries with weaker health systems must act aggressively to contain spread among early cases and prevent community transmission,” he said.
There are now 5,013 confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in 46 African countries.
Sierra Leone has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, a 37-year-old man, who travelled from France on March 16 and had been in isolation since, the president said yesterday.
“When I did my first coronavirus news conference, I said that it was not a matter of if, but when. Well, ‘when’ has come,” President Julius Maada Bio said in a speech on national television.
He did not announce any new measures to tackle the pandemic.
Similarly, the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has exceeded 800,000, according to the latest data.
There have been 828,305 confirmed cases globally, with 40,735 deaths, while more than 174,454 people have recovered from the disease, an interactive map maintained by the CSSE showed.
The U.S. has the most COVID-19 cases, exceeding 164,610, while Italy has reported over 12,428 deaths, the highest among all nations and regions.
Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action on Tuesday reported 13 new cases of COVID-19, which brought the country’s total number of cases to 175.
During the daily news conference on COVID-19, Health Minister Abdoulaye Sarr said the new cases include one imported case and 12 close contacts of earlier confirmed patients.
Among the 175 confirmed cases, 74 are imported ones. Forty patients have been declared cured by local health authorities.
He also mentioned that the clinical status of the two patients with ventilator support are stable.
The country has declared a state of emergency along with a dusk-to-dawn curfew, effective from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.
It also banned public or private meetings of any kind, and ordered temporary closure of public places and meeting places.
Senegal has suspended all international passenger flights till April 17.
The agency said: “There are a total of 5,013 confirmed COVID-19 cases across 46 countries on the African continent with a total of 157 deaths reported.
“South Africa currently has the highest in the region with 1,326 cases and three deaths, Algeria 511 cases with 31 deaths and Burkina Faso has 246 confirmed cases with 12 deaths.
“As at 11:15 am 31st March, there are 135 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria with two deaths.”
But, a WHO official said yesterday that coronavirus epidemic is “far from over” in the Asia-Pacific region, and current measures to curb the spread of the virus are buying time for countries to prepare for large-scale community transmissions.
WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Takeshi Kasai said even with all the measures being taken, the risk of transmission in the region will not go away as long as the pandemic continues.
Countries with limited resources are a priority, such as Pacific Island nations, he said, as they have to ship samples to other countries for diagnoses, and transportation restrictions are making that more difficult.
Kasai warned that for countries that are seeing a tapering off of cases, they should not let down their guard, or the virus may come surging back.
The WHO does not expect any country to be safe, as the coronavirus will eventually get everywhere, said WHO technical adviser Matthew Griffith.
The focus of the epidemic is now on Europe, but that will likely shift to other regions, Griffith said.
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