African
nations have ordered curfews and lockdowns in response to the growing
coronavirus epidemic, raising fears of turmoil for low-income workers and
cash-strapped governments across the continent.
Cases have risen across the world's poorest continent over the
past week to a total of 2,137 and 62 deaths, according to an AFP tally,
prompting countries to enact strict counter measures.
South Africa, the continent's most developed economy -- which at
554 cases has Africa's largest outbreak -- on Monday announced a nationwide
lockdown.
"Without decisive action, the number of people infected
will rapidly increase... to hundreds of thousands," South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the time.
There are fears that weak health infrastructure in Africa will
leave the continent particularly exposed to an outbreak on the scale of
virus-stricken Europe.
Other countries are following suit with similar measures. More
are expected to be announced in the coming days.
On Monday, Senegal and Ivory Coast both declared states of
emergency and ordered night-time curfews.
Ivory Coast on Tuesday said it had recorded 73 coronavirus cases
in total and would lock areas down progressively, depending on how the virus
spreads.
Senegal has recorded 86 coronavirus cases to date, its health
ministry said on Tuesday. Ivory Coast has 25 known coronavirus cases.
In a sign of coronavirus' increasing reach, Ivory Coast's Prime
Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly said on Twitter on Tuesday that he was in a
self-isolation after coming into contact with a positive case.
As the virus spreads, there are also fears that poor and
debt-saddled countries will unable to provide an adequate response.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday asked G20 leaders
for $150 billion in emergency funding to deal with coronavirus, saying that it
"poses an existential threat" to the economies of African countries.
He added that creditors should partly write off national debt
for low-income countries.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France's parliament on Tuesday that there would be a European financial aid package for poor countries fighting the virus.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France's parliament on Tuesday that there would be a European financial aid package for poor countries fighting the virus.
"I'm thinking in particular about Africa," he said.
Adopting lockdowns and social distancing measures in poor
African nations is also generating economic worries at the local level.
Homes are often overcrowded, and workers in the informal economy
cannot self-isolate at home without abandoning their livelihoods.
Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation's regional
director for Africa, admitted these difficulties in a briefing with reporters
last week.
She said such measures were "quite a challenge" and
that the WHO is working on other approaches such as making hand sanitisers more
widely available.
Locals are increasingly concerned as containment measures bite.
"They're closing down the stalls, the restaurants, but how are we supposed to feed our families?" asked Nemy Fery, who runs a street-food stall in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's main city.
"They're closing down the stalls, the restaurants, but how are we supposed to feed our families?" asked Nemy Fery, who runs a street-food stall in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's main city.
He added that he would try selling takeaway meals -- and look
for another job.
There are similar concerns in Muslim-majority Senegal, where the
authorities were already struggling last week to enforce a ban on praying in
mosques.
Sabah Amar, who works in a souvenir shop, said that Senegalese
people "will die of hunger" before they succumb to coronavirus.
Several people interviewed by AFP in Dakar nonetheless said they
supported the government's coronavirus measures.
"I prefer that everything closes. We're not selling
anything anyway," said Amar. "Otherwise we're all going to die."
In the north of the continent, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa
Madbouli on Tuesday announced a two-week night-time curfew.
And in the east, cases have doubled in Rwanda, to 36, while
South Sudan has closed its air and land borders, except for food and fuel
supplies.
The archipelago nation of Cape Verde on Tuesday announced its
first coronavirus fatality after a 62-year-old British tourist died.
Cameroon also recorded its first death -- a man who had
contracted the disease in Italy and tested positive on March 14, according to
Health Minister Manachi Manaouda.
Four people have died in Burkina Faso, which is West Africa's
worst-hit country with 115 confirmed cases.
Countries that have announced strict containment measures are
turning to the army to enforce them.
Military patrols in Senegal will ensure people respecting the dusk-to-dawn
curfew, for example.
South Africa's president has also said the army will enforce his
country's lockdown.
Nombulelo Tyokolo, 41, a domestic worker in Cape Town, who shares a one-bedroom shack with her son, told AFP she was worried about how the lockdown will work.
Nombulelo Tyokolo, 41, a domestic worker in Cape Town, who shares a one-bedroom shack with her son, told AFP she was worried about how the lockdown will work.
"I am scared, worried and panicking about 21 days
indoors," she said.
"We have to fetch water outside and go outside to the
toilets. God have mercy." - AFP
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