By Our Correspondent, BUJUMBURA Burundi
The tiny East African nation of Burundi confirmed its first
coronavirus cases, the Health minister Thadée Ndikumana, announced late Tuesday.
Both men were
Burundian. One, 56, had recently returned from neighbouring Rwanda and the
other, 42, had recently returned from Dubai.
“Both are Burundian nationals who had
travelled to Rwanda and Dubai respectively and are being hospitalised at
Bumerec hospital in Bujumbura,” the health minister told a news conference.
He, however, did not
announce the day they arrived in the country saying it might jeopardise contact
tracing efforts.
“We cannot provide the
dates as investigations are ongoing,” said Dr Ndikumana.
As neighbouring
countries of Rwanda, DR Congo and Tanzania reported cases of coronavirus,
Burundi suspended all flights to and from Melchior Ndadaye International
Airport and started screening returnees and visitors from countries affected by
Covid-19.
Belgian and French
schools and the French Cultural Centre have suspended all their activities in
the country for at least 15 days over coronavirus fears.
The decision came after
a 29-year-old French national who had travelled to Rwanda from March 5 to 9
revealed that she was in contact with a colleague during her stay in Kigali who
tested positive for coronavirus.
Last week, Tanzania’s
Health Minister Ummy Ally Malimu announced that one of the new recorded cases
in the country was a truck driver who was found at Kagera, a region bordering
Burundi.
The driver reportedly
entered Tanzania through Kabanga, a common border between Burundi and Tanzania.
The news means there
are now only five remaining African countries that have not confirmed the
presence of the virus in their territory: Comoros, Lesotho, Malawi, Sao Tome
& Principe, and South Sudan. - Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment