More than 20 million Nigerians
on Monday went into lockdown in sub-Saharan Africa's biggest city Lagos and the
capital Abuja, as the continent struggles to curb the spread of coronavirus.
 |
| A man carrying bags of rice on his head prepares to leave the Nigerian capital of Abuja as it enters lockdown on Monday |
President Muhammadu Buhari
ordered a two-week “cessation of all movements” in key cities to ward off an
explosion of cases in Africa's most populous
country.
Businesses are being closed, non-food
shops shut and people required to stay at home as officials look to track down
possible carriers of the disease after reporting 131 confirmed cases and two
deaths so far.
Enforcing the restrictions in
sprawling Lagos will be a mammoth challenge as millions live crammed into slums
and rely on daily earnings to survive.
In the ramshackle outdoor
markets of Lagos Island, anxious locals complained they did not have the money
to stock up, while at higher-end supermarkets better-off residents queued to buy
supplies.
“Two weeks is too long. I
don't know how we will cope,” said student Abdul Rahim, 25, as he helped his
sister sell foodstuffs from a stall in Jankarra market.
“People are hungry and they
won't be able to stock food.”
City officials have pledged to
provide basic provisions to 200,000 households but the central government in
Africa's largest oil producing nation is already facing financial strain as the
price of crude has collapsed.
The streets of Ghana's capital
Accra were also empty as most people in two regions appeared to be following a
presidential order to stay indoors after it went into force.
Dozens of African nations have
imposed restrictions ranging from night-time curfews to total shutdowns.
Zimbabwe,
which is already suffering a recession, began enforcing a three-week lockdown
after the disease left one person dead and infected six others.
Police mounted checkpoints on
routes leading to Harare's central business district, stopping cars and turning
away pedestrians who had no authorisation to be in the area.
“We don't want to see people
here on the streets. We don't want to see people who have no business in town
just loitering,” a policewoman said through a loud hailer. “Everyone to their
homes.”
Some people were trying to
head for villages.
“We would rather spend the 21
days at our rural home, where we don't have to buy everything. I can't afford
to feed my family here when I am not working,” said Most Jawure.
“We have been waiting here for
more than two hours but there are no buses,” Jawure told AFP while
standing with his wife and daughter beside a bulging suitcase.
For many of Zimbabwe's 16
million people, the lockdown means serious hardship.
With the unemployment rate
estimated at around 90 percent, most Zimbabweans have informal jobs to eke out
a living and few have substantial savings.
As a similar scenario played
out in other poor nations, the UN on Monday called for a $2.5-trillion aid package
to help developing countries weather the pandemic, including debt cancellation
and a health recovery “Marshall Plan".
Experts warn that Africa is
highly vulnerable to COVID-19 given the weak state of health systems across the
continent.
The number of infections lags
far behind Europe but testing has been limited and the figures are growing
rapidly.
Angola and Ivory Coast on
Sunday became the latest countries to record their first deaths, bringing the
number of African fatalities to around 150 of nearly 4,800 recorded cases.
In Democratic Republic of
Congo, two new cases were reported in the volatile South Kivu region and an
adviser to the nation's president announced he had tested positive.
Ugandan President Yoweri
Museveni ordered a 14-day lockdown in a bid to halt the spread of the disease
after reporting 33 infections.
Police in South Sudan, one of
a few nations in Africa yet to confirm a case, enforced strict new rules,
shutting shops selling non-essential items and limiting passengers in public
transport.
Mauritius, which has 128 cases
-- the highest in East Africa -- has extended its lockdown to April 15.
South Africa's defence
minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Monday denounced alleged intimidation by
security forces after videos emerged showing some forcing civilians to squat or
roll on the ground for allegedly violating restrictions.
In an interview with local
Newzroom Afrika television channel, she said she was aware of two videos “which
have circulated where clearly there (is) some abuse”.
“I'm saying I condemn that, we
will not allow that to continue,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment