Russia overtook China in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, when its tally climbed above 87,000, as pressure rose on the government to consider easing lockdown restrictions for businesses to help shore up the rattled economy.

Russia, the world’s largest country by territory, has been on lockdown since President Vladimir Putin announced the closure of most public spaces in late March. These measures are due to expire on April 30 and Putin has not yet said if he plans to extend them.

Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, told state television on Monday that, in her view, restrictions should be in place until May 12.

Earlier Prime Minister Mikhail Mishushin asked his government to submit proposals by Thursday to ease some of the restrictions on businesses. Many firms have warned that they risk going bankrupt if the lockdown continues, and thousands of workers have been laid off.

Mishustin told an online government meeting that as soon as the situation started to improve “we would need to consider a step-by-step cancellation of restrictions on certain companies… operations”.

On Monday, the authorities reported  6,198 new cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the total to 87,147, with 794 deaths.

Moscow plans to open two new hospitals, with 1,500 beds each, in the defence ministry’s Patriot museum and in the Crocus exhibition centre, once a spot for lavish concerts, business daily RBC reported on Monday.

St Petersburg, the country’s second largest city, is also turning Lenexpo, which used to host Russia’s top economic forum, into a temporary hospital with 1,000 beds.

Energy sector in focus

Russia, one of the world’s top oil and gas exporters, is particularly vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus at production sites. Most are located in remote areas accessible only by air, meaning the workers must be in close proximity, increasing their risk of infection.

Citing local officials, news agency Interfax said on Monday that an airport in Sabetta, in the northern Yamal peninsula, had been shut down  for quarantine after cases of the new coronavirus were detected at the Yamal LNG production site controlled by Novatek.

A total of 143 cases were confirmed in Sabetta, the local crisis response centre said separately.

In the northwestern region of Murmansk where Novatek is building a plant to supply its next LNG project, the Arctic LNG 2, more than 800 workers tested positive for coronavirus, the local crisis response centre said on Sunday.

Velesstroy, a sub-contractor for the plant, temporarily suspended work at the site near Murmansk, but said in a statement to Reuters that the project would remain on schedule.

To limit the risk of contagion at more than 1,000 power plants in Russia, including nuclear ones, more than 200,000 employees – or nearly a third – were recently tested for the virus, the energy ministry said.

It did not say how many of those tests returned positive.

Mainland China, where the new coronavirus first emerged, reported a total of 82,830 cases on Monday. China is now fighting an increased number of new cases coming from Russia.

Source: REUTERS

A song urging Cameroonians not to relent in the fight against malaria blasted through speakers Saturday — World Malaria Day — at road junctions and popular neighborhoods, as well as from publicity vans driving through Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.

Dr. Daniel Etoundi of Cameroon’s public health ministry said health teams were being taken to every neighborhood to try to discourage patients from buying roadside drugs or resorting to African traditional healers for malaria treatment, because those can lead to severe health complications.

“If the product is toxic, the liver will be spoiled [destroyed]. Same with the kidney,” he said. “Most of the products that we consume are eliminated through the kidney by urine. Now, if the drug is toxic, it will spoil the kidney function.”

The Cameroon Ministry of Public Health reported that since March 5, when the first case of the coronavirus was reported in the central African state, many people with suspected cases of malaria or other diseases have refused to go to hospitals for fear they will catch COVID-19. As of Saturday, more than 1,500 cases had been confirmed in the country,  according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.

But medical doctors say 90 percent of Cameroon’s 25 million people are at risk of malaria, while 41 percent have an episode each year.

Dr. Dorothy Achu, coordinator of Cameroon’s National Malaria Control Program, said people should understand that although there is much government emphasis on the dangers of COVID-19, malaria remains the nation’s major killer, especially of children.

“We are trying to sensitize health workers to protect themselves well but to continue to provide services,” as well as reassure the population “that it is not in all hospitals that we take care of COVID patients. So we just require them to protect themselves when they go to hospitals,” she said.

Education efforts

Innocent Kuisseu, sensitization team member for the prevention of malaria, said members also were educating Cameroonians about how to protect themselves from malaria by systematically using insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets and visiting hospitals when they suspect they might have malaria. He said people should not think that anyone who has malaria also has COVID-19.

“Efforts are being put in to make sure that the population is more and more aware of what should be the right treatment, to make sure that in suspicion of malaria there should be a rapid diagnostic test, to make sure that they sleep under insecticide-treated nets,” he said.

The International group Severe Malaria Observatory reports that malaria causes 22% of deaths occurring in health care facilities in Cameroon, and that 10% of deaths in children under 5 years old are linked to malaria.

Health officials in Cameroon blame the surge of malaria and COVID-19 cases on the fact that many people do not respect basic hygiene standards and don’t visit health facilities when they have early signs of either disease. They also say there are too many people who refuse to use treated mosquito bed nets.

Source: VOA

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo says the number of COVID-19 cases in the WHO African Region has increased to over 30,000.

The UN’s health agency gave the update on its official twitter account @WHOAFRO on Sunday.

“Over 30,000 COVID-19 cases reported on the African continent with over 9,000 associated recoveries and 1,300 deaths recorded,’’ it said.

The WHO African Region COVID-19 dashboard showed that in sub-Saharan Africa, the South Africa suffered the most severe outbreak, while Cameroon and Ghana had more than 2, 500 confirmed cases.

The figures on the dashboard showed that South Africa, Algeria and Cameroon had continued to top the list of countries with the highest reported cases.

It showed that South Africa had 4, 361 cases and 86 deaths followed by Algeria with 3, 256 cases and 419 deaths, while Cameroon had 1,518 confirmed cases with 53 deaths.

According to the dashboard, South Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, Mauritania are countries with the lowest confirmed cases in the region.

It showed that South Sudan had the lowest confirmed cases of five reported with zero death.

Mauritania, the dashboard showed, was second country with the lowest confirmed cases with seven reported cases and one death.

Source: The News

As the global caseload of the COVID-19 disease increased more slowly, governments around the world are increasingly taking steps to revive their shuttered economies after weeks of pandemic lockdowns.

More than 206,544 people have lost their lives due to the respiratory disease caused by the new virus — well over half of them in Europe — and 2,971,477 others are currently infected with the virus across the globe, according to the latest data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, the contagion curve appears to have flattened in Europe, as the continent’s worst-hit nations — Italy, Spain, France, and Britain — eventually report drops in their daily tallies.

That has allowed the governments to prepare for a staged end to weeks off coronavirus lockdowns.

Spanish children get outside after 6 weeks

Spanish children were finally free to go outside on Sunday, after six weeks of living under one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.

Under the new lockdown conditions, children under 14 are allowed to step outside of their house for one hour of supervised activity per day.

Schools still remain closed.

Spain’s Health Ministry reported the lowest daily increase in the coronavirus fatality toll in more than a month on Sunday. It registered 288 deaths, which brought the total number of fatalities to 23,190, while the overall number of cases rose to 226, 629.

The county has recorded the world’s third-highest number of deaths, after the United States and Italy.

Italy to reopen factories

Italy will also allow manufacturers, construction companies, and some wholesalers to reopen from next week, and will permit limited family visits after more than two months of a strict lockdown.

Under the revised rules, retailers will be allowed to reopen two weeks later.

Restaurants, however, will remain closed until the beginning of June.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who outlined the road map to restart activities, said on Sunday, “We will live with the virus and we will have to adopt every precaution possible.”

Health authorities reported a third consecutive daily fall in COVID-19 deaths, with 260 fatalities — the lowest number since mid-March.

With 26,644 fatalities, Italy’s death toll still remains the heaviest in Europe, along with 197, 675 confirmed cases of the viral infection.

The number of new cases has been slowing and the number of patients in intensive care has been falling steadily, according to officials.

Britain reports 413 more deaths

Britain’s daily tally was also the lowest since the end of March, as officials reported 413 deaths in 24 hours, with 4,463 new confirmed cases.

That brought the total death toll across the United Kingdom to 20,732, along with 152,840 confirmed cases.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce plans for easing lockdown restrictions as early as this week.

He is due to be back at work on Monday after spending a week in hospital due to a coronavirus infection and two weeks of recovering at Chequers, his country residence.

France reports lowest deaths in over a month

France on Sunday reported the smallest rise in deaths since March 25, with a decrease in the number of patients in intensive care.

Deaths rose by 242 to 22,856, according to figures provided by the French Health Ministry on Sunday.

The number of new cases also increased by 1,129 to 191,743.

Some businesses allowed to reopen in Switzerland

Switzerland also allowed some businesses to reopen on Monday. The country has reported a total number of 29,061 cases of COVID-19 and 1,610 deaths.

Germany detects 1,018 new cases

Germany has confirmed 1,018 new cases, bringing its total to 155,193, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases on Monday.

The death toll also rose by 110 to 5,750, the data showed.

Meanwhile, millions of Muslims across the world have begun the holy month of Ramadan under coronavirus restrictions, which ban them from large gatherings for prayers in mosques.

Saudi Arabia relaxes some curfews

Saudi Arabia has kept 24-hour lockdowns in place in the city of Mecca, but eased some curfews elsewhere on Sunday.

Outside Mecca and certain lockdown areas, curfews will be eased for eight hours during the day.

The kingdom has also allowed some economic and commercial activities to re-start from Wednesday until May 13.

With 17,522 cases of infection and 139 deaths, Saudi Arabia has the highest numbers among the six members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The countries, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, have collectively recorded almost 46,000 cases and 258 deaths.

Dubai lifts lockdown on two commercial districts

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) lifted a full lockdown on two densely-populated commercial districts in Dubai on Sunday.

Dubai, the Middle East’s business hub, already cut its 24-hour lockdown back to an eight-hour curfew on Friday.

The UAE has reported more than 10,300 cases and 76 deaths resulting from COVID-19, the second-highest count among the six-member Arab alliance.

Turkey’s death toll passes 2,800

Turkey eased a four-day curfew in 31 provinces and lifted quarantines in 177 settlements in 44 cities midnight on Sunday.

The Turkish Interior Ministry, however, said in a statement that regulations to curb the spread of the disease, such as compulsory wearing of masks and social-distancing in markets and streets would be strictly monitored over the next week.

Turkey’s confirmed cases increased by 2,357 in the past 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed on Sunday, taking the country’s tally to 110,130 — the highest total for any country outside Western Europe or the United States.

The number of deaths also increased to 2,805 after 99 people succumbed to the respiratory disease in the last 24 hours.

A total of 29,140 people in Turkey have so far recovered from COVID-19, authorities said.

China reports 3 new cases, no deaths

China, the first ever country to report the disease, has detected three new cases, down from 11 a day earlier, with no new deaths, the country’s health authority said on Monday.

Of the new cases, two were imported, down from five on the previous day, according to the National Health Committee.

The country has a total of 82,830 cases and 4,633 deaths.

Coronavirus keeps Muslims away from mosques across Asia

The Muslim populations in several countries across Asia have now been banned from gathering in mosques during the holy month of Ramadan.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, has closed its main mosque to worshippers, calling on people to pray at home.

The country’s Istiqlal Mosque, the biggest in South Asia, which every year drew thousands of worshippers for prayers during Ramadan, was empty on Monday due to the lockdown.

Indonesia has confirmed 8,882 cases of infection and at least 743 deaths so far.

Bangladesh also closed the gates of the Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jame Mosque in the capital, Dhaka.

Bangladesh has so far reported a total of 5,416 cases and 145 deaths.

Pakistan also closed one of its biggest mosques to people on Monday.

Police patrolled outside the Faizan-e-Madina Mosque in the city of Karachi to stop worshippers from entering the mosque.

Pakistan has reported more than 11,000 confirmed cases, along with 237 deaths.

India’s Jama Masjid in New Delhi was also deserted as only five worshippers joined an evening prayer on the first day of Ramadan.

The country’s Muslim population has lately been harassed online and across the cities over allegations that they were “deliberately” spreading the coronavirus in India.

India has reported 26,496 cases of the respiratory disease and 824 deaths.

Bangladesh’s garment factories defy lockdown

In a related development, Bangladeshi garment factories defied a nationwide lockdown to resume work.

Hundreds of factories resumed operations over the weekend in the industrial areas of Gazipur and Ashulia, just outside Dhaka.

Factories said they had been “under pressure” from big-name international brands to fulfill export orders.

They had to shut down in late March due to the outbreak.

Some 200,000 workers were likely back at work just in Ashulia, according to police spokeswoman Jane Alam.

This has raised fears that the industry’s vulnerable and largely female workforce could be exposed to the virus.

More than four million people work in thousands of garment factories across the country. Last year, Bangladesh shipped out 35 billion dollars of apparel to retailers such as H&M, Inditex, and Walmart.

Almost 2 million Australians get tracking app

In Australia, nearly two million people have downloaded a government app designed to trace close contacts of COVID-19 patients.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said 1.89 million people had downloaded the app CovidSafe as of Monday. That made only more than seven percent of the country’s population of 25.7 million. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said at least 40 percent of the population would need to download the app.

The app stores 21 days of data of the users’ contacts, and has sparked concerns about the privacy of users.

Australia has recorded 83 deaths and 6,700 cases.

Some states across the country have now begun easing social distancing restrictions.

Mexico removes almost all refugees from facilities

Mexico, through which many refugees travel to reach the United States, has deported most of the refugees back to their home countries over the past five weeks.

The country’s National Migration Institute (INM) said that it had been removing refugees from its 65 facilities, which held 3,759 people last month.

Authorities have returned 3,653 refugees to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador by road and air. Only 106 people remain in government refugee centers.

Experts say the move is being taken in line with Mexico’s policy of keeping the number of refugees in check under pressure from US President Donald Trump. The INM, however, said the refugees were being returned in order to comply with health and safety guidelines to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Health officials have reported 13,842 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,305 deaths in Mexico.

Source: Presstv

Cameroon customs on Tuesday seized 210 cartons of fake anti-malaria medication chloroquine in Ngaoundere, chief town of the mountainous region of Adamawa.

Thousands of fake tablets were almost smuggled into the country through neighbouring Nigeria.

Cameroon customs was alerted by the World Customs Organisation when the cargo vehicle carrying the fake medication was returning from Nigeria. The driver was stopped for identity and document checks but failed to provide marketing authorisation and a technical visa for the tablets, said Epoh Mbappe, a senior customs official, adding that those transporting the drugs have been remanded in custody.

Officials said Cameroon has seen a rise in the production and proliferation of fake chloroquine, as people rush to obtain the anti-malaria drug in the unproven belief it can prevent the infection of COVID-19.

Last week, health authorities in the country announced they had shut down six pharmaceutical companies that were producing and selling counterfeit drugs.

Source: Xinhuanet

Former US Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton has blasted President Donald Trump after he suggested scientists should investigate inserting disinfectants into the body as a way to cure COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus.

Clinton, Trump’s 2016 bitter presidential rival, warned on Friday that people not to poison themselves based on the president’s advice. 

“Please don’t poison yourself because Donald Trump thinks it could be a good idea,” she wrote on Twitter.

Clinton’s comment comes as Trump faces criticism from medical professionals for his remarks. Doctors and health experts urged people not to drink or inject disinfectant.

Trump said at his daily media briefing on Thursday that medical experts should explore whether inserting light or disinfectant into the bodies of people infected with the novel coronavirus might cure the disease.

 He also asked if there was a way to use disinfectants on the body “by injection inside or almost a cleaning.”

“Is there a way we can do something like that by injection, inside, or almost a cleaning?” he said. “It would be interesting to check that.”

“Maybe you can, maybe you can’t … I’m not a doctor. But I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what,” Trump said, pointing to his head.

Trump claims remarks were ‘sarcastic’

On Friday, Trump on Friday said he was being sarcastic when he suggested a day earlier that scientists should consider exposing the body to light, heat and disinfectants the coronavirus patients.

“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office in the White House.

“I was asking a sarcastic — and a very sarcastic question — to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside,” he continued. “But it does kill it, and it would kill it on the hands and that would make things much better. That was done in the form of a sarcastic question to the reporters.”

When a reporter pointed out that the president had turned to experts next to the stage when he presented the idea on Thursday, Trump claimed he was asking those officials “whether or not sun and disinfectant on the hands … can help us.”

Trump’s explanation raised eyebrows among those who watched the Oval Office briefing.

“It didn’t seem like it was coming off as sarcastic when he was talking and turning to Dr. Birx on the side,” Fox News anchor Bret Baier said on air after Trump’s retraction.

We have a ‘quack medicine salesman’ on TV

“We seemed to have a quack medicine salesman on television. He’s talking about things like disinfectant in the lungs,” Schumer said.

“We need real focus in the White House on what needs to be done. Instead of talking about disinfectant the president should be talking about how he’s going to implement testing. Which every expert says is the quickest path to get us moving again,” he added.

Trump’s dangerous comments forced Lysol manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser to issue a statement that “under no circumstance” should its products be administered into the human body.

The company said in a statement on its website that “due to recent speculation and social media activity,” they had “been asked whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus.”

“As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route). As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information,” the company said on Friday.

Culled from Presstv

The sun is only just rising in Berlin but Lothar Kopp, 65, is already standing in line outside a clinic in the district of Reinickendorf.

Along with a handful of mask-clad people standing two metres apart, he is here to give a blood sample — for antibody tests in the hope of finding out if he has previously contracted the coronavirus and since developed immunity.

“If I’ve already had corona then I’m not infectious,” said Kopp, hoping to test positive for antibodies as it could allow him to visit his elderly mother without the risk of spreading the disease.

As nations around the world look to ease curbs on public life, some experts have mooted the possibility of so-called “immunity passports” to allow those who have antibodies to return to work first.

In Germany, tens of thousands of tests have been performed and large studies are ongoing.

Elsewhere in the world, efforts are also under way to determine the so-called level of immunity in the population.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said last week that the state will be launching tests “in the most aggressive way in the nation” to find out how many have already had the disease.

In a rush to catch up with testing, the US regulator had even taken the extraordinary decision to allow commercial manufacturers to market their tests without formal authorisation.

But experts including from the World Health Organization have urged caution over the accuracy of the nascent tests.

Among the unknowns of the virus is how long immunity could last — meaning that even positive antibody tests may not be meaningful for long.

– ‘Nonsense’ –

Urging prudence, a WHO spokeswoman noted that there is “much discussion” over the antibody tests.

But “once we have validated tests we may still not know how well a positive result correlates with protection against disease or for how long the protection will last,” she told AFP.

Matthias Orth, a board member of the Professional Association of German Laboratory Doctors (BDL), said inaccuracies are a big problem.

People can test negative even if they have had COVID-19, he said.

“There are also quite banal coronaviruses that do not cause serious illness, and they can give a positive result.”

As for so-called rapid antibody tests — home kits that extract blood from your finger and promise a result within 15 minutes — Orth’s verdict: “They’re nonsense.”

More accurate tests will come within weeks, he said, but he stressed that “it’s a little too early to give patients a clear statement that they are definitely immune”.

– 70,000 tests –

Nevertheless, the studies, including one that started in Munich over the weekend with scientists picking 3,000 households at random to test for antibodies, are being closely watched.

A separate study is ongoing in Gangelt, in the Heinsberg district — where Germany’s first major cluster of infections was uncovered. So far, researchers have determined that 14 percent of the population had previously been infected.

Beyond studies, several pharmaceutical companies in Germany have also begun marketing such antibody tests — which must be analysed in a laboratory.

And around 70,000 tests have so far been processed by 54 laboratories, according to the ALM association of accredited medical laboratories.

Doctor Ulrike Leimer-Lipke of the Reinickendorf clinic, which has been offering antibody tests since mid-March, said: “I think it makes a lot of sense, because this way we can find out if people have immunity.

“It is very important for people if they have a grandmother or a mother or father who they care for, to know if they are already immune.”

Source: AFP

Countries in the CEMAC region have now classified their Cameroonian neighbour as a nation at risk because of the high number of people infected with the COVID-19 pandemic. Late on Friday, the sick man of the Sub Saharan region Central African Republic (CAR) announced that people coming from Cameroon into CAR have to be tested for COVID-19. A move welcomed by members of the CEMAC group.

The Central African Minister of Public Health Dr Pierre Somse went a step further by making public a toll-free number 1212 and observed that it is imperative for anyone coming from the Republic of Cameroon to the Central African Republic within the last 14 days to urgently visit health centers to carry out the COVID-19 screening test.

Since April 6, one month after the confirmation of the first case of the coronavirus, Cameroon has entered the top 5 African countries most affected by the pandemic. It has thus become the first in CEMAC followed by the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

According to statistics updated Friday after an evaluation meeting by the French Cameroun Minister of Public Health Dr Manaouda Malachie, 1430 people have contracted the coronavirus.

Among those who tested positive, 692 are active. And, 120 are hospitalized including 20 under respiratory assistance.   The Francophone Health Minister also announced on Thursday evening that some 668 patients have recovered from the virus with 43 deaths recorded.   

Several special centers for the care of patients with COVID-19 have been set up including 2 in the French Cameroun’s political capital of Yaoundé.  The Biya regime has also included the military stadium in Yaounde as one of the specialised centers for the care of COVID-19 patients. Douala in the Littoral region has 2 special centers while 1 currently operates in Garoua.

The ruling CPDM crime syndicate received last Saturday, 100 ventilators and 300 thousand diagnostic kits.

By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap in Glasgow with files from Rita Akana

Doctors and health experts urged people not to drink or inject disinfectant on Friday after US President Donald Trump suggested scientists should investigate inserting the cleaning agent into the body as a way to cure COVID-19.

“(This is an) absolutely dangerous crazy suggestion,” said Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain’s University of East Anglia.

“You may not die of COVID-19 after injecting disinfectant, but only because you may already be dead from the injection.”

Trump said at his daily media briefing on Thursday that scientists should explore whether inserting light or disinfectant into the bodies of people infected with the new coronavirus might help them clear the disease.

“Is there a way we can do something like that by injection, inside, or almost a cleaning?” he said. “It would be interesting to check that.”

Parastou Donyai, director of pharmacy practice and a professor of social and cognitive pharmacy at the University of Reading, said Trump’s comments were shocking and unscientific.

She said people worried about the new coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it causes should seek help from a qualified doctor or pharmacist, and “not take unfounded and off-the-cuff comments as actual advice”.

Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and a former US labor secretary, added on Twitter, “Trump’s briefings are actively endangering the public’s health. Please don’t drink disinfectant.”

Reading’s Donyai said previous comments by Trump had already been linked to people self-administering medicines or other products in ways that make them poisonous.

“We have already seen people mistakenly poisoning themselves by taking chloroquine when their hopes were raised by unscientific comments,” She said.

Reckitt Benckiser, which manufactures household disinfectants Dettol and Lysol, issued a statement on Friday warning people not to ingest or inject its products.

(Source: Reuters)

Eric Wule has a problem. He lives in Kumba, a city in southwest Cameroon, and this week his government has told him — together with all other 25-million citizens — that it is illegal to appear in public without a face mask. This is part of the government’s measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. As of April 18, Cameroon had recorded 1 017 cases of the disease, including 22 deaths.

But surgical masks are in short supply, and Wule is struggling to find one. The masks that are being sold, he cannot afford: the price has quintupled, from 100 CFA francs (about R3.12) to between 500 CFA francs and 1 000 CFA francs.

Wule is not the only person struggling to comply with the emergency regulations. There are simply not enough face masks in Cameroon for everyone. 

“The masks are scarce and even seem unavailable. Families and friends will use that which is available in turns just to escape police trouble,” commented one civil society activist, who asked not to be named.

Many people have started making masks themselves, from fabric, but this comes with its own risks. “They have not been well educated on how to use these reusable masks. The management of the cloth mask is also problematic. They are being fabricated in homes and no attention is paid to sterilisation after fabrication. The Covid-19 status of the persons fabricating them are also not known,” said Dr Ade Harrison Manju, the director of Benakuma district hospital.

Harrison has also observed people trying on face masks before purchasing them. “This seems to be a new mode of transmission. Imagine buying a mask that has been tried on previously by about 10 people whose status you do not know. It is risky!” he said.

The World Health Organisation cautions that wearing a mask alone is not an adequate defence against Covid-19, and that “there is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (whether medical or other types) by healthy persons in the wider community setting, including universal community masking, can prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including Covid-19.”

The politics of protection

One campaign designed to support Cameroonians in this difficult time is the Survie-Cameroon-Survival Initiative, which aimed to raise €1-million for relief efforts. But it was declared illegal by the government, perhaps because it was founded by Maurice Kamto, the main opposition leader. The interior ministry has taken steps to freeze the campaign’s bank account.

For his part, Kamto has accused President Paul Biya of being absent during this crisis, and has asked Parliament to declare a power vacancy and organise new elections. Kamto may have a point: Biya had not been seen in public for about a month. This week, following Kamto’s stinging criticism, the presidency released a photograph of Biya meeting the French ambassador to Cameroon. A tweet from Biya’s account read: “On the menu for our exchange this afternoon: managing the Covid-19 pandemic in Cameroon, France and around the world.”

Kamto was not impressed. “Cameroonians are expecting him to address the nation, to tell them exactly what is going on, to share his vision,” said Kamto, speaking to the Washington Post. “Whether that photo is real? Authentic? I don’t know.”

Nkongho Felix Agbor, a renowned Buea-based human rights  lawyer, condemned the politicisation of Covid-19. “This is not the time [for] playing politics with the lives of our people, many of whom are dying. There is a need for a collective action,” he said.

Others see the government restriction as unwise. Ndansi Elvis, a United States-based Cameroonian with deep knowledge of health economics, calls it “insanity.” He thinks it is an act of cowardice for the government to order the closure of the account of a solidarity fund aimed at fighting this pandemic, simply because of political rivalry. “Are the funds to be used in sponsoring any terrorist act? Can government convince those donating from all over the world to donate to its own fundraiser when they know well that because of credibility issues people may not donate as much?”

Source: Mail/Guardian