Sierra Leone Telegraph: 7 April 2020:
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa now stands at 10,075, with 487 deaths and 913 recoveries from the virus.
The number of cases are growing, though much slowly than was seen in China, Italy and Spain last month. There are concerns African countries may not be able to cope, as the figures shoot up in the coming weeks and months, with North and West Africa recording the highest numbers of cases so far.
These are the figures as reported by the African Union this morning – 7 April 2020, for each region:
Central Africa (950 cases; 33 deaths; 34 recoveries):
Burundi (3; 0; 0), Cameroon (650; 9; 17), Central African Republic (9; 0; 3), Chad (9; 0; 1), Congo (49; 5; 2), DRC (180; 18; 9), Equatorial Guinea (16; 0; 1), Gabon (30; 1; 1), Sao Tome & Principe (4; 0; 0)
Eastern Africa (861; 18; 37):
Djibouti (90; 0; 9), Eritrea (31; 0; 0), Ethiopia (44; 2; 4), Kenya (158; 6; 4), Madagascar (82; 0; 2), Mauritius (244; 7; 7), Rwanda (105; 0; 4), Seychelles (11; 0; 0), Somalia (7; 0; 1), South Sudan (1; 0; 0), Sudan (12; 2; 3), Tanzania (24; 1; 3), Uganda (52; 0; 0)
Northern Africa (4,485; 362; 437):
Algeria (1,423; 173; 90), Egypt (1,322; 85; 259), Libya (18; 1; 0), Mauritania (6; 1; 2), Morocco (1,120; 80; 81), Tunisia (596; 22; 5)
Southern Africa (1,790; 17; 57):
Angola (8; 2; 0), Botswana (6; 1; 0), Eswatini (10; 0; 3), Malawi (5; 0; 0), Mozambique (10; 0; 1), Namibia (16; 0; 3), South Africa (1,686; 12; 45), Zambia (39; 1; 5), Zimbabwe (10; 1; 0)
Western Africa (1,992; 57; 348):
Benin (26; 1; 5), Burkina Faso (364; 18; 108), Cape Verde (7; 1; 0), Côte d’Ivoire (323; 3; 41), Gambia (4; 1; 2), Ghana (287; 5; 3), Guinea (121; 0; 5), Guinea-Bissau (18; 0; 0), Liberia (14; 3; 3), Mali (47; 5; 5), Niger (253; 10; 26), Nigeria (238; 5; 35), Senegal (226; 2; 92), Sierra Leone (6; 0; 0), Togo (58; 3; 23).
Thanks for updating us about coronavirus. May Allah continue to protect us from this virus.
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I personally believe that the proactive measures that our government implemented earlier will help deter the spread of the coronavirus based on the fact that most of the passengers entering our country especially through the airport were quarantined. Unfortunately for us in the USA, data shows that over 400,000 citizens from China alone entered the country after the Chinese New Year celebrations without any quarantine measures put in place.
Sierra Leoneans were also very cooperative because of their experience during the Ebola and it seems that so far they are still fighting very hard to defeat this destructive disease. This time around, it seems that scientists and economists are the new disciples from the Almighty so we have to listen to their advice and follow the process and procedures that they are putting in place at least for the next 12-18 months when hopefully a vaccine will be discovered which means we should prepare for the worst.
I hope and pray that Sierra Leone which is classified as one of the least developed countries in the world with one of the lowest life expectancy rates (52 – 53 years) which is an indication that most of the people with underlining medical problems starts at an earlier age as compared to richer countries which is around 60 years. The coronavirus can be easily spread as compared to the Ebola. so I hope and pray that the Almighty will continue to bless our leadership with more wisdom and understanding to stop this destructive disease from spreading. AMEN AND AMEEN.