The Pinnacle Tower, a building under construction in the capital Nairobi.
For the first time in many decades, African leaders are not waiting for the western world to dictate their response to Covid-19 virus. On Sunday, several African nations closed borders, canceled flights and imposed strict entry and quarantine requirements to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, which has a foothold in 26 nations on the continent as cases keep rising.
The Preparedness of Africa Nations this time is mostly due to the hard lessons learned from the Ebola Virus in Africa. “Covid-19 outbreak from Wuhan China has spread almost all the continents of World except Antarctica -unhabituated Continent. Hundreds of people died in China, Iran, and Italy the severely gripped by a coronavirus. Though Africa has limited cases as reported but given the alarming and catastrophic situation rising every day. As hundreds of cases are reported positive, fear, economic crisis, education, and health effects have played havoc to the countries to fight Covid-19.
In Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta told the nation in a televised address:
“The government is suspending travel for all persons coming into Kenya from any country with reported coronavirus cases … only Kenyan citizens and any foreigners with valid residence permits will be allowed to come in provided they proceed on self-quarantine,”
Ghana will from Tuesday ban entry to anyone who has been to a country with more than 200 cases in the last 14 days unless they are an official resident or a Ghanaian national.
In southern Africa, Namibia ordered schools to close for a month following two confirmed cases of coronavirus announced on Saturday.
Other nations have also shuttered schools, canceled religious festivals and sporting events to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission. Some 156,500 people worldwide have been infected and almost 6,000 have died. African leaders are stepping up this time largely due to the fragile nature of their healthcare system that is inadequate and not able to handle massive cases of Corona virus.
As of Sunday, cases have been reported in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Rwanda, Seychelles, eSwatini, Namibia, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea. (Reporting by Ed Mc Allister in Dakar, Omar Mohammed and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi, Giulia Paravicini in Addis Ababa and Nyasha Nyaungwa in Windhoek; Writing by Giulia Paravicini, Editing by Katharine Houreld and Alexandra Hudson)
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