With substandard medicines already in wide circulation, fears are growing that coronavirus could create a lethal ‘parallel crisis’
When Joana Opoku-Darko’s daughter Anna was 18 months old, she came down with malaria, a disease common in Ghana and especially deadly for children.
She bought medication from a pharmacy in Ghana’s capital, Accra; when Anna’s fever didn’t subside she took her to a hospital, where they ran some tests.
Continue reading...Schools in Turkey to stay shut until end of May; Germans urged to stay home; Vietnam says it has had no domestic transmission for two weeks
Another 31 people have died in Ireland and 376 more cases have been diagnosed, the country’s chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has said.
One of the deaths reported on Wednesday involved a person in the 15-24 age group, the second in this category. Dr Holohan warned the number in intensive care units was too high as the prospect of a rapid easing of movement restrictions dwindles.
That is simply too high and we need to get that down further not only because it is about protecting occupancy but the lower the figure is it is a reflection of better protection of the public and lower levels of spread of the infection.
Bolivia will extend its lockdown against the pandemic until 10 May, the government has announced, though it is planning to relax rules in less affected parts of the country from the following day.
The president Jeanine Áñez has said Bolivia will move to a “dynamic” or “less rigid” quarantine on 11 May, allowing some people to return to work.
Opening the quarantine a little or closing it completely will depend on how the pandemic is being controlled in each region. The Ministry of Health will evaluate every seven days how the pandemic evolves in each region. On that basis, decisions will be taken to relax or harden the quarantine.
Continue reading...WHO official warns of fresh outbreaks as jabs for 12 million children are delayed
Vaccinations for up to 12 million children to prevent the spread of polio in Africa will be delayed, in a major redeployment of polio eradication resources to fight the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Polio prevention campaigns, which are vital to avert outbreaks, will be suspended until at least the second half of 2020, said Dr Pascal Mkanda, the head of polio for World Health Organization Africa. The decision will inevitably lead to a rise in polio cases.
Continue reading...Covid-19 is likely to impact aid for people forced from their homes by conflict and disaster around the world, experts warn
A total of 50.8 million people around the world were recorded as internally displaced last year, forced from their homes by conflict and disaster. This is the highest number ever, and 10 million more than in 2018.
Annual statistics published by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) calculated that by the end of 2019, 45.7 million people were internally displaced – effectively becoming refugees in their own country – as a result of violence in 61 countries. An additional 5.1 million people in 96 countries had been displaced by disasters.
Continue reading...Doctors in Kano state report surge in fatal cases of pneumonia among elderly
Nigeria’s president has announced an immediate two-week lockdown in Kano, the largest city in the north, after local reports of a big rise in deaths in recent days.
The federal government would deploy “all the necessary human, material and technical resources” to support Kano state, Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday night.
Continue reading...Boy, 16, evacuated from Libya under EU scheme, alleges incident took place at Gashora transit facility during coronavirus curfew
An allegation that a Rwandan police commander sexually assaulted a child refugee has rocked an EU-funded scheme, under which hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers have been evacuated from detention centres in Libya.
The allegation was made by a 16-year-old Eritrean boy, who had returned to Gashora transit centre, south of Kigali, after a coronavirus-related curfew on 13 April.
Continue reading...Iran reports 96 more deaths; Spain’s death toll shows slight rise; Germany calls for ‘very careful’ easing of lockdown; New Zealand says ‘worst is over’
Formula One plans to start the season in Austria on 5 July and stage between 15 and 18 grands prix this year with the opening races behind closed doors.
The announcement came immediately after the French Grand Prix was cancelled and the news the British Grand Prix will be held without spectators if it goes ahead.
Preparatory work has begun on restarting repairs to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Continue reading...Nations battle to contain spread after World Health Organization warns of 10 million cases within six months
African nations are banking on aggressive screening and testing strategies as their best – and possibly only – defence against the Covid-19 virus.
After a slow start, a sudden rise of more than 40% in the number of Covid-19 cases on the continent in the last 10 days – to 28,000 – and a similar increase in the number of deaths – to 1,300 – has worried specialists.
The World Health Organization has warned of 10 million cases on the continent within three to six months, though experts say that the death toll could be lower if authorities are able to move swiftly to contain outbreaks of the disease.
“We are at the beginning in Africa,” Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said last week.
Though some of the worst effects of infection may be mitigated by the relative youth of many people on the continent, others may be made more vulnerable by malnutrition or existing conditions, such as HIV.
Under-resourced health systems are unlikely to cope with a significant surge of those infected by the disease. Provision of intensive care facilities on the continent is grossly inadequate. Many countries with populations numbering tens of millions have only a handful of ventilators.
So far it has been difficult to fully grasp the extent of the spread of the disease in Africa, as testing has been patchy.
Djibouti has recorded 98.6 cases per 100,000 people, the highest prevalence on the continent. But the tiny country has conducted just over 10,000 tests, as many as neighbouring Ethiopia, which has more than 100 million people.
WHO clarifies ‘immunity passport’ advice; global deaths pass 200,000; Russia case tally passes 80,000; Sweden’s deputy prime-minster admits problems with strategy. This blog is now closed.
We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest:
Here a few key developments of the past few hours at a glance:
Continue reading...Trust is essential in the pandemic and scientists here can set the priorities that make the most sense for our people
Research to find a cure and effective treatment for Covid-19 is well under way, with hundreds of trials already announced. But very few involve African researchers, and this is a mistake.
Although Africa has yet to feel the full force of the coronavirus, preventing severe cases is a higher priority than it is elsewhere. Africa needs research that is tailored to our reality.
Continue reading...Sixty Hutu rebel fighters suspected of attack on civilians in Virunga national park
Suspected Hutu militiamen have killed 16 people, including 12 rangers, in the Virunga national park, a Democratic Republic of the Congo government official has said, in the deadliest attack in the park’s recent history.
The park in eastern DRC, home to critically endangered mountain gorillas as well as hundreds of other rare species, has faced repeated incursions and attacks by local armed groups.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Ambunya Oyombe pleads not guilty over fatal shooting of Carilton Maina in Nairobi in December 2018
A Kenyan police officer has appeared before a Nairobi court charged with the murder of 23-year-old Carilton Maina, a former Leeds University student, who was shot dead in December 2018.
The charging of police constable Emmanuel Ambunya Oyombe marks a significant milestone in the Kenyan government’s commitment to tackling its issue with questionable police shootings, and to speeding up its justice process in bringing those accused to trial.
Continue reading...Despite Egypt’s fears of ‘hydro hegemony’ and concerns it will worsen water shortages in Sudan, Ethiopia’s controversial dam project is close to fruition
From his office in central Khartoum, Ahmed al-Mufti prepares every day for what he believes is the water war to come.
This conviction led Mufti, a prominent human rights lawyer and water expert, to quit the Sudanese delegation that is negotiating Nile water issues with Egypt and Ethiopia.
Continue reading...President announces $26bn relief package and will set out plans to lift restrictions
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been put on standby in South Africa amid rising tensions as one of the strictest lockdowns in the world nears its fifth week.
Cyril Ramaphosa, the president and commander-in-chief, has mobilised the 73,000 men and women of South Africa’s armed forces, though it is unclear how many of them may eventually be deployed.
Continue reading...Government rejects claim by militant groups that the virus does not harm Muslims and imposes night-time curfew
Somalia has recorded a rise in coronavirus cases in the past week, with the majority of those affected reportedly young people.
So far there have been 237 confirmed cases and eight deaths in the country. A member of parliament and a state minister are among those who have died.
Continue reading...Police say villagers were killed, most beheaded or shot, after some refused to join extremists
An Islamist extremist group in northern Mozambique has killed dozens of villagers in its most bloody attack.
More than 50 people were massacred in an attack in Xitaxi in Muidumbe district after locals refused to be recruited to its ranks, according to police cited by local media. Most were either shot dead or beheaded.
Continue reading...Coronavirus ‘potentially catastrophic’ for nations already suffering food insecurity caused by famine, migration and unemployment
The warning from the World Food Programme (WFP) that an extra 265 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity by Covid-19, almost doubling last year’s total, is based on a complex combination of factors.
WFP’s latest warning underlines the increasing concern among experts in the field that for many the biggest impact will not be the disease, but the hunger hanging off its coat tails.
Continue reading...A rise in cases of the mosquito-borne disease poses another layer of threat in a country where the health system is already struggling
At least 131 people have died from malaria in Zimbabwe in a new outbreak, adding pressure to a country already struggling to deal with Covid-19.
The fatalities occurred in 201 outbreaks recorded across the country, according to the Ministry of Health. Meanwhile Zimbabwe’s lockdown has been extended by two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Continue reading...Gilberto ‘Fuminho’ Aparecido dos Santos arrested in international sting operation
Mozambique has expelled one of Brazil’s most wanted criminals, an alleged drug lord who has been on the run for two decades.
Gilberto “Fuminho” Aparecido dos Santos was sent home on a Brazilian air force plane that left Maputo at 1.30am on Monday with dozens of police officers onboard, the authorities said.
Continue reading...The group of men appeared to have been poisoned, according to country’s chief prosecutor
A group of 44 suspected members of Boko Haram who had been arrested in Chad during a recent operation against the jihadist group have been found dead in their prison cell, apparently poisoned, Chad’s chief prosecutor has announced. Speaking on national television on Saturday, Youssouf Tom said the prisoners were found dead on Thursday.
Autopsies on four dead prisoners revealed traces of a lethal substance which had caused heart attacks in some victims and severe asphyxiation in others, he said. The dead men were among a group of 58 suspects captured during a major army operation around Lake Chad launched by the president, Idriss Déby Itno, at the end of March.
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