Lockdowns have begun across Africa as coronavirus cases rose above 1,000.
Nigeria announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent’s most populous country.
Rwanda said all unnecessary movements outside the home are banned for two weeks as of midnight except for essential services such as healthcare and shopping.
The East African nation, which has 17 cases, has told all public and private employees to work from home. Tunisia imposed its own lockdown earlier.
Eritrea and Angola announced their first cases, meaning 41 of Africa’s 54 countries are now affected.
Congo has reported its first death from coronavirus. Pictured, policemen wear masks as they ride on a patrol truck amid the outbreak in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on March 19
Nigeria announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent’s most populous country. Above, a woman wears a protective face mask at the Murtala Mohammed International airport in Lagos on Thursday
Rwanda said all unnecessary movements outside the home are banned for two weeks as of midnight except for essential services such as healthcare and shopping. Above, a trader weighs grains at the Kimironko market as shoppers stock up on essential items that have been price fixed in order to prevent exploitative prices in Kigali, on March 17
Eritrea and Angola announced their first cases, meaning 41 of Africa’s 54 countries are now affected. Above, technicians from the Angolan Ministry of Health screen passengers arriving from Lisbon for possible coronavirus infection, at the Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in Luanda
Chemists wearing medical masks are seen behind a cordon as a preventative measure against the Covid-19 pandemic in Tunis, Tunisia, today
Congo reported its first death, while Burkina Faso reported two new ones.
Uganda is closing its borders to all but cargo.
Ethiopia said all arriving passengers will face mandatory quarantine as of Monday. Somalia said it is lifting its ban on international flights for two days so stranded citizens can come home.
Nigeria’s international flight ban came a day after Africa’s busiest airport, in Johannesburg, blocked foreigners from disembarking and two major airlines – Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways – announced sweeping cancellations of international flights.
The announcement came shortly after Nigeria reported its first cases in the capital, Abuja.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said ’emergency and essential’ flights are exempt from the ban that starts on Monday.
An adviser to president Muhammadu Buhari said Nigeria also plans to suspend all passenger rail services from the same day.
Nigeria’s international flight ban came a day after Africa’s busiest airport, in Johannesburg, blocked foreigners from disembarking and two major airlines – Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways – announced sweeping cancellations of international flights. (Above, a woman in the Diepsloot township north of Johannesburg, South Africa, today)
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said ’emergency and essential’ flights are exempt from the ban that starts on Monday. Above, near the Central Mosque in Lagos on Friday
Tunisia imposed its own lockdown earlier. Pictured, Habib Bourguiba Avenue in downtown Tunis on March 14 (top) which has become deserted in recent days (bottom)
Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a national disaster even before his country confirmed its first virus case on Friday. On Saturday, his country announced the first case in the capital, Harare. Above, health workers screen people visiting a public hospital in Harare today
While Angola closed its air, land and sea borders this week, TV footage showed president Joao Lourenco attending Saturday’s inauguration of Namibian president Hage Geingob.
Also in attendance was president Mokgweetsi Masisi of neighbouring Botswana, which this week suspended international travel by all government employees. Namibia has three cases of the virus.
Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa was also there.
He announced a national disaster even before his country confirmed its first virus case on Friday. On Saturday, his country announced the first case in the capital, Harare.
Africa now has more than 1,100 cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Burkina Faso now has the most virus deaths of any country in sub-Saharan Africa. The West African nation has one of the highest caseloads on the continent with 64.
Several government ministers in Burkina Faso have tested positive, including the minister of foreign affairs. On Friday, president Roch Marc Christian Kabore announced the country’s two international airports would close for two weeks, with exceptions for military and cargo.
Burkina Faso is one of Africa’s most fragile states with a growing humanitarian crisis caused by attacks linked to Islamic extremists.
More than 130 health centres have closed, affecting more than 1.5 million people, government and aid groups say.
Burkina Faso now has the most virus deaths of any country in sub-Saharan Africa. The West African nation has one of the highest caseloads on the continent with 64. (Pictured, a girl washes her hands at a restaurant in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, today)
A Nigerian security guard sits outside a mobile clinic in Victoria Island, Lagos today
According to a government response plan seen by The Associated Press, emergency teams are not trained for a respiratory disease outbreak and do not have appropriate protective gear.
There is also insufficient screening at borders. None of Burkina Faso’s 44 high-flow entry points have the required personal protective equipment, and only 23% have coronavirus screening devices.
Jerry-Jonas Mbasha, cluster coordinator for the World Health Organisation in Burkina Faso, said he was ‘much worried about what might happen in the next one week, two weeks from now’.
Most people only experience minor flu-like symptoms from the coronavirus and recover within a few weeks, but the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those who appear well.
Secondary school students at a temporary hand-washing point, before they return home. The Rwandan Government has decided to send back all students of boarding schools after the first case of COVID-19 was found on March 13, in Kigali
It can cause severe illness, including pneumonia, in some patients, particularly those with underlying health problems.
More than 275,000 cases have been confirmed globally, including over 11,000 deaths, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. At least 88,000 people have recovered.
In Nigeria, which just three weeks ago announced the first coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa, authorities said that first patient, a man who had travelled from Italy, is now fit to go home.
In Kenya, health officials continued to disinfect crowded markets in the capital, Nairobi, trying to stop the virus’ spread.
‘It’s for the sake of us, it’s for the sake of the country,’ said public health council chairman Simon Kimani.