Sub-Saharan Africa reports more cases of deadly illness

A medical staff wears protective gear at a new section specialised in receiving people who may have been infected with coronavirus at The Quinquinie Hospital in Douala, Cameroon. [Reuters]

Tanzania has confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus even as the Sub-Saharan Africa region reported more cases amid stronger countermeasures against the pandemic.

Tanzania’s Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said yesterday the patient was a Tanzanian woman aged 46.

Rwanda, which reported its first case on Saturday, saw the number of confirmed coronavirus (covid-19) cases rise to five on Sunday.

Rwanda’s health ministry said in a statement the four additional cases included a 34-year-old man who arrived from South Sudan on March 6 and his brother, who also had a recent history of travel.

A fourth person was a 22-year-old man of Ugandan nationality who arrived in Rwanda from London on Sunday.

South Africa is the worst hit country in the Sub-Saharan Africa region as the number of people with the coronavirus climbed to 51 on Sunday after 13 more people were tested positive, according to the Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

Seven cases were detected in Gauteng, five in Western Cape and one in KwaZulu-Natal.

All of the patients tested positive after visiting European nations, with one person travelling to Iran, according to Mkhize.

Ghana has announced some restrictions concerning international travel as the country announced four additional covid-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of the confirmed cases to six.

Except for Ghanaian citizens and persons with Ghana residence permits, no person who has been to countries with more than 200 covid-19 cases would be allowed into the country, said Ghana’s Minister for Information Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah at a press briefing.

Besides, those allowed into the country are requested to self-quarantine for 14 mandatory days, with guidelines for self-quarantine issued at the entry points, said the minister.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday confirmed two new cases of coronavirus, bringing to three the number of confirmed cases of the deadly novel covid-19.

Cote d’Ivoire reported three new cases on Saturday night, bringing the number of people infected in the country to four, according to the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene.

They are patients of Cote d’Ivoire nationality, two of whom are male aged 33 and 49, and a female aged 56, said Health Minister Eugene Aka Aouele in a statement.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health also reported three more confirmed covid-19 cases after the East African country on Friday reported its first confirmed case, a 48-year old Japanese national, eventually increasing the total number of confirmed cases to four.

“Based on the tracing, we have found three more additional patients that have become positive for covid-19. The three cases include two Japanese citizens aged 44 and 47, and one Ethiopian aged 42,” the Ethiopian health minister Liya Tadesse disclosed in a statement on Sunday.

Namibia’s capital Windhoek has closed city parks and recreation facilities for 30 days.