To prevent the spread of coronavirus, Tanzania’s State House has shared a picture of President John Magufuli exchanging a foot greeting with opposition politician Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad.
On Friday, March 6, 2020, there were at least 42 cases of coronavirus reported in 9 African countries –Togo, Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt – as 102,168 infections were recorded worldwide. Coronavirus causes a respiratory disease called COVID-19.
In Algeria, there were 17 cases of coronavirus infection, 16 of them in the same family. Egypt has reported 15 cases. There were also four people infected in Senegal and two in Morocco. as well as one each in Nigeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, and Togo, according to virus tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins.
Coronavirus in Africa as of Friday, March 6, 2020
| 17 Algeria | 2 Morocco | 1 Togo |
| 15 Egypt | 1 South Africa | 1 Nigeria |
| 4 Senegal | 1 Cameroon | 1 Tunisia |
Confirmed Cases by Country/Region as of Friday, March 6, 2020.
Confirmed Cases by Country/Region as of Friday, March 6, 2020.
| 80,651 Mainland China | 420 Japan | 128 Netherlands | 66 Austria |
| 6,767 South Korea | 401 Spain | 109 Belgium | 63 Australia |
| 4,747 Iran | 327 US | 108 Norway | 60 Bahrain |
| 4,636 Italy | 214 Switzerland | 107 Hong Kong | 58 Kuwait |
| 670 Germany | 164 UK | 101 Sweden | 54 Canada |
| 653 France | 130 Singapore | 83 Malaysia | 48 Thailand |
| 45 United Arab Emirates | 17 Algeria | 9 Azerbaijan | 4 Indonesia |
| 45 Taiwan | 16 Oman | 9 Romania | 4 Senegal |
| 45 Iceland | 16 Vietnam | 8 Argentina | 4 Chile |
| 45 Greece | 15 Finland | 8 Qatar | 4 Georgia |
| 31 India | 15 Egypt | 7 Slovenia | 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 23 San Marino | 13 Russia | 6 Pakistan | 3 Saint Barthelemy |
| 23 Denmark | 13 Portugal | 6 Belarus | 3 North Macedonia |
| 22 Palestine | 13 Brazil | 6 Mexico | 2 Dominican Republic |
| 22 Lebanon | 13 Ecuador | 5 Saudi Arabia | 2 Luxembourg |
| 21 Israel | 11 Croatia | 5 New Zealand | 2 Morocco |
| 19 Czech Republic | 10 Macau | 5 Poland | 2 Hungary |
| 18 Ireland | 10 Estonia | 5 Philippines | 1 Lithuania |
1 Cambodia
| 1 Cameroon | 1 Armenia | 1 Costa Rica | 1 Bhutan |
| 1 Monaco | 1 Ukraine | 1 Andorra | 1 Nepal |
| 1 Afghanistan | 1 Vatican City | 1 Gibraltar | 1 Jordan |
| 1 Slovakia | 1 South Africa | 1 Nigeria | 1 Latvia |
| 1 Peru | 1 Liechtenstein | 1 Tunisia | 1 Serbia |
| 1 Togo | 1 Faroe Islands | 1 Colombia | 1 Sri Lanka |
Coronavirus in Togo
The Togolese government announced on Friday a 42-year old woman had tested positive to coronavirus which causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19.
The government said in a statement that the resident of Lome, the capital of Togo, had visited Benin, Germany, France and Turkey in late February and early March. The patient is stable and in isolation.
Coronavirus in South Africa
South Africa was the latest country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case. The patient is a 38-year-old man who visited Italy with his wife.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the couple, who have 10 children, were part of a group of 10 people who returned from Italy on March 1, 2020.
Mkhize said the man and the doctor who first treated him were both in self-isolation in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.
He added that investigation was ongoing to identify people who might have come in contact with the man and the doctor.
The confirmation of South Africa’s first case prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to warn that coronavirus may turn into a national crisis with huge impact.
President Ramaphosa urged his countrymen not to panic and to get immediate medical help if they have symptoms of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus.
A newspaper quoted him as saying the effect of coronavirus will be big in South Africa and the country will need to be prepared.
He said it will affect travel, and other areas of business, adding that the economy was already feeling a negative impact.
Coronavirus in Egypt
The health ministry in Egypt announced 12 new coronavirus cases in the country on Friday, bring the total number of those infected to 15.
The ministry said in a statement on Friday the 12 new cases of coronavirus were detected among staff on board a cruise ship on the Nile River in the south of the country.
It said the 12 persons were not showing any sign of the disease as the cruise ship traveled from Aswan to Luxor, two tourist sites in Upper Egypt.
Authorities said they were alerted after a Taiwanese tourist “of American origin” who had traveled on the boat was found to be the source of the spread of the disease, according to the joint statement with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Authorities said the 12 Egyptians employees have tested positive and have been quarantined.
Other tourists who came into contact with the Taiwanese tourist were also quarantined, according to the press release.
Coronavirus in Algeria
In Algeria, health ministry said on Wednesday the coronavirus had infected nine more members of a family in Blida province.
Blida province is located about 20 miles south the capital Algiers. The announcement on Wednesday brought to 16 the number of people within the family to be infected.
Local and international reports said a man and his daughter, who lived in France, had visited the family last month, and had tested positive for the coronavirus when they flew back to France.
The other case of coronavirus reported in Algeria was that of an Italian, who was sent back home. In all, there were 17 reported cases of coronavirus on Friday morning.
Coronavirus in Nigeria
In Nigeria, an Italian who traveled from Milan to Lagos tested positive last week and he was being treated. There has not been any other case of coronavirus in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with about 200 million people.
Coronavirus in Cameroon
Cameroon’s health minister Dr. Malachie Manaouda on Friday confirmed the first case of the coronavirus in the country.
The 58-year-old French national who arrived in the country on February 24 has tested positive to the virus that causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19.
‘‘The case was placed in solitary confinement in th Care Center of the Yaounde Central Hospital for appropriate treatment,” the minister said in a statement.
Manaouda said the government has put in place measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Elsewhere around the world, close to 100,000 people have been infected.
Iran’s former ambassador to Syria, Hossein Sheikholeslam, succumbed to the illness as death toll there surged to 124. South Korea confirmed an additional 518 cases Friday.
“A French lawmaker tested positive; the Vatican reported its first case; the Netherlands recorded its first fatality; a rabbi was infected in New York state; a cruise ship remained quarantined off the California coast,” the Washington Post reported.
“In the United States, the death toll rose to 12 late Thursday as numerous states, including Maryland, confirmed their first cases. The Senate voted to approve $8.3 billion in emergency spending, but concerns remain about how far the outbreak will stretch the system,” the Post added.
It said the U.S. “now has more than 200 cases, while a cruise ship carrying some 2,500 passengers is being held off the California coast for coronavirus testing. California, Maryland and Washington have each declared a state of emergency”.
In Africa, there are now 12 confirmed cases – five in Algeria, two in Egypt, two in Senegal, one in Morocco, one in Nigeria and one in Tunisia.
Two of those countries, Nigeria and Senegal, are located in Sub-Saharan Africa and have three cases in all.
In Nigeria, an Italian national who traveled from Milan in Italy to Lagos in Nigeria tested positive last week. In Senegal, two French nationals have tested positive for the virus there. The four other countries are located in northern Africa.
