SADC SUSPENDS FACE-TO-FACE ENGAGEMENTS AS CORONAVIRUS FEARS TAKE GRIP OF S. AFRICA

Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA

An extraordinary meeting of members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Monday resolved to temporarily suspend regional face-to-face engagements until the spread of coronavirus has been contained.

Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday, representatives from Angola, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, among others, attended the meeting in an effort to "share existing knowledge and information" about the deadly virus, a joint statement issued on Tuesday read.

The broad strokes of the statement touched on several talking points at the meeting, including an assessment of the level of preparedness of member states and to urge members to put in place national preparedness and response plans "as well as contingency and emergency funds to address gaps in prevention, impact mitigation and other interventions". 

This as several African countries reported coronavirus cases recently, namely, Algeria, South Africa, Senegal, Tunisia, Togo, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria and Morocco. 

China's ambassador to Tanzania, Wang Ke, also addressed the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Wang said the coronavirus had been the "most difficult epidemic to contain since the founding of the People's Republic of China".

"In the face of the epidemic, China has been taking the prevention of the overseas spread of the disease as its important task: We have cancelled all outbound tourist groups, strictly screened passengers at all exit ports across the country and required all Chinese citizens going abroad to observe and follow the epidemic control measures and quarantine themselves for two weeks upon their arrival at the destination countries," she said.

As countries move with haste to contain the spread of the virus, the ambassador moved to assure member states that citizens currently residing in China were being afforded medical attention.

"China attaches great importance to the concerns raised by foreign governments about the safety of their citizens in China [and] the Chinese government has been protecting foreign nationals in China as if they were Chinese citizens."

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Wuhan on Tuesday for his first visit to the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic since the crisis erupted in January - a major sign that officials believe the outbreak is under control.

State media showed Xi, wearing a mask, speaking via video link to frontline medical workers and patients at one of the field hospitals set up in the city. - Africa