Cameroon has required the wearing of face masks by all of its citizens and begun large scale production of Chloroquine to treat COVID-19. The country says its hospitals are already overwhelmed, with more than 850 confirmed cases within 6 weeks, yet it expects confirmed COVID cases to rise into the several thousands.

Almost everyone on the streets of Yaounde began wearing masks Monday. Police were out to enforce the measure, taken by the government to limit the spread of COVID-19. 22-year old Christian Yubin speaking via a messaging App said the police forced him to buy and wear a mask.

“Temperatures are very high, up to 35 degrees and they are asking us to wear masks which suffocate us. I think the best thing to do is to respect social distancing. Stay far from people,” said Yubin.

Dr. Georges Alain Etoundi Mballa, director of pandemics and epidemics at Cameroon’s public health ministry said they are insisting on preventive measures because hospitals are already being overwhelmed by the number of COVID infected persons.

He said with the ever-growing number of infected persons, the government has asked people who are feeling better in hospitals, including COVID-19 patients, to return to their homes, where they will have medical follow up by hospital staff. He said the government is also transforming football stadiums and gymnasiums into facilities where COVID-19 infected persons will be received for treatment.

Production of chloroquine

Madeleine Tchuente, Cameroon’s minister of scientific research and innovation, said besides the obligatory wearing of masks, the government has ordered the production of the drug chloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. She said they have started producing 6,000 tablets per day and expect to drastically increase production when they get some more ingredients from China.

Tchuente said President Paul Biya has ordered them to produce at least eight million tablets of chloroquine each day as the situation is getting worse. She said Cameroon has the know-how and laboratories to produce the chloroquine but what they lack are the necessary active pharmaceutical ingredients they can import from China and India, and that China has assured Cameroon that the ingredients will be shipped in two weeks.

Chloroquine is one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs. It has also attracted attention over the past few decades as a potential antiviral agent. Last week, Cameroon announced that it had seized counterfeit chloroquine from at least 300 pharmacies and hospitals and closed two fake pharmaceutical companies as thousands of its citizens were rushing for the drug with the unproven believe that it can stop COVID-19 infections.

Emmanuel Anyangwe Ngassa, a Cameroon-born medical doctor practicing in Germany, said U.S president Donald Trump is leading many African countries to believe there is a cure for COVID-19, when scientists have not yet announced any. He spoke via a messaging App from Bonn.

“What is the essence of that drug? Chloroquine has not been proven to treat COVID-19 successfully. It was unfortunate that Donald Trump took this thing up, spoke about it and publicized it,” he said.

The rush for chloroquine as a treatment to COVID-19 began in Cameroon in March after France announced that half of 14 patients who underwent chloroquine therapy got better and when U.S President Donald Trump referred to it as a potential cure for the ravaging coronavirus disease.

Source: VOA

At least 1,844,410 people are diagnosed with COVID-19 across the globe, and 114,090 others have so far died of the disease, according to the latest data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

Slowing death rates from the coronavirus epidemic in Italy, France and Spain — the worst-affected nations after the United States — have provided some hope in Europe, where millions of people celebrated Easter Sunday under lockdown in their homes.

Here are the world’s key developments related to the pandemic over the past 24 hours:

Italy reports lowest daily death toll in 1 month

Deaths from coronavirus infection in Italy rose by 431 on Sunday, down from 619 the day before, official said. That was the lowest daily rise in deaths since March 19.

The number of new cases also slowed to 4,092, from a previous 4,694.

The total death toll rose to 19,899, the Civil Protection Agency said, also confirming the number of known cases of COVID-19 at 156,363.

Spain reports drop in daily toll

Presenting its daily update on Monday, Spain’s government said the death toll had resumed a downward trend with 517 more people dead.

The overall number of fatalities was reported at nearly 17,500.

The data also showed confirmed cases rose by 3,477 — the lowest daily figure since March 20.

The country started loosening the lockdown and reopened parts of its economy with construction and manufacturing workers returning after a two-week period.

France deaths decline

France has reported a drop in fatalities from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, with 315 deaths in hospitals on Sunday, compared with 345 the day before.

President Emmanuel Macron is expected to address the nation for a third time over the outbreak later on Monday. Official said he is due to stress the need for the lockdown to continue.

The total death toll, which includes data from hospitals and nursing homes, reached 14,393 in the country, with a total 132,591 infections as of Sunday.

Russia reports new record daily rise of COVID-19

In a record daily rise, Russia reported 2,558 more positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday.

The figure brought the country’s overall tally to 18,328.

According to Russia’s coronavirus crisis response center, 18 patients also died of complications from the viral infection, bringing the country’s overall death toll to 148.

Meanwhile, police have tightened a lockdown in the capital, Moscow, where more than 10,000 people are infected with the virus.

Traffic police have set up checkpoints on major thoroughfares on the outskirts of the city to control traffic.

China reports 108 new cases

China recorded 108 new cases of the disease on Sunday, marking the highest number of cases in more than five weeks.

The National Health Commission said 98 cases had been travelers from abroad.

Two deaths were also recorded.

The new figures brought China’s total confirmed cases to 82,160, and the number of deaths to 3,341.

Recent increases in the number of imported cases have sparked fears of a second wave of infections in the mainland. As part of the latest restrictions in the country, cities near the border with Russia are tightening border controls and imposing stricter quarantine after officials reported an influx of infected cases from Russia. The northeast Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia, has become the new battleground against the coronavirus outbreak.

More recovered patients test positive again in South Korea

South Korea said on Monday that at least 116 people who had recovered from COVID-19 had tested positive again.

While the country reported 25 first-time infections on Monday, the number of “reactivated” patients had more than doubled since a week earlier, when officials started reported such cases.

South Korea health officials are investigating the cause of the apparent relapses. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also opened an investigation into the cases.

Jordan extends lockdown till end of April

In the Middle East, Jordan extended its month-long lockdown until the end of this month on Sunday.

The country has reported 389 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths.

Jordan had declared a 24-hour nationwide curfew on March 20.

Turkey’s Erdogan rejects minister’s resignation over hasty curfew

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the resignation of his interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, who had hastily declared a weekend lockdown that led to a surge in panic buying and traffic in Istanbul.

Soylu announced his resignation in a Twitter message on Sunday, saying he was responsible for implementing the lockdown.

Erdogan, however, refused to accept his resignation. Health officials reported 97 more deaths on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 1,198. The country of 80 million has nearly 57,000 confirmed cases of the viral infection.

In Israel, former chief rabbi dies of COVID-19

A former Israeli chief rabbi died of complications caused by the new coronavirus on Sunday.

Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, 79, who had served as Israel’s top chaplain for Sephardim from 1993 to 2003, died of COVID-19 in a hospital in Jerusalem al-Quds.

Israel has reported 11,145 cases of infection and 103 deaths.

Sudan introduces emergency laws

In Africa, Sudan was set to introduce emergency laws, including banning all passenger road transport between cities, as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

It has registered 19 cases and two deaths.

Mexico reports 442 new cases

In Mexico, the Health Ministry reported 442 new cases of infection and 23 more deaths on Sunday.

That brought the country’s total to 4,661 cases and 296 deaths.

Culled from Presstv

Starting from the upcoming Monday, wearing a mask in public spaces in Cameroon shall be compulsory, according to a government order.

Mouhamed Amin Nsangou, 26, a student at the University of Yaounde I, did not wait for this decision before starting the production of masks.

Failing to find protective masks in quantity on the market, Nsangou and his university peers set up a workshop to manufacture masks with local fabrics.

“When our country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, we felt we had to get involved in the fight,” he said. “We make the protective masks using 100 percent cotton fabrics found on the market.”

These masks, which sell for 1,000 CFA francs per piece (about 1.7 dollars), “are washable for many times, because many Cameroonians could not afford to buy masks all the time,” Nsangou said.

In addition to the masks, students majoring in biology and chemistry also produce hydro-alcoholic solutions, which are also rare in local market as more and more COVID-19 cases are reported.

“Thanks to the protocol made public by the World Health Organization (WHO), we get our raw materials on the market to produce hydro-alcoholic gels,” said Michel Pepouore Ngoundam, a student in industrial microbiology at the University of Yaounde I.

According to the students, so far, their initiatives have helped to provide about a hundred students with face masks and hydro-alcoholic gels.

The Cameroonian government is planning a massive local production of masks, hand gels, and other materials to fight the virus, according to the government decree making it mandatory to wear the mask.

According to the latest report from the country’s health authorities, as of April 11, Cameroon has reported 836 COVID-19 cases, making it one of the African countries worstly hit by the pandemic.

Source: Xinhuanet

According to www.worldometer.com, Africa has lost some 710 people to the Coronavirus.

Since the virus started, many people around the world have been worried about Africa, a continent many people say is bereft of world-class health infrastructure.

Egypt, Algeria, Morocco have registered the highest numbers of people killed by virus on the continent. 

It should be pointed out that Africa is a continent and not a country. It is a continent of 54 countries and more than a billion people, many of whom are young and are blessed with very strong immune systems.

At the beginning of the viral pandemic, many westerners had predicted that there would be an apocalypse on the continent due to the lack of proper medical facilities and experts, but things are pointing in a different direction.

Much of the success is also due to the distancing and containment measures that most African countries have put in place. The wearing of face masks is now compulsory in many African countries and the use of hand sanitizers is mandatory in many shops and government offices.

The population is complying with most of measures in place and this is delivering some impressive outcomes.

Africans have to continue doing the right things. They must make social distancing a significant part of their lives, regardless of the challenges that come with it.

The virus is still alive and it is leaving a trail of death and destruction in other parts of the world. Africans must learn from the mistakes of other people and with their natural advantage, they will be able to keep the death rate at the barest minimum.

By Dr Joachim Arrey

Africa’s ailing presidents and powerful elites have been known to jet out to seek treatment abroad, instead of investing in healthcare in their own countries.

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe died in a hospital in Singapore, and Cameroon’s Paul Biya regularly seeks treatment abroad.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari was out of the country for several months in 2017 for treatment in London for an undisclosed illness and has frequent checks abroad. Since he took office in 2015, he has embarked on at least four medical trips to the UK.

But with flights grounded and countries across the world on lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, these leaders are getting a wake-up call that they must fix their healthcare systems.

The President of the Commonwealth Medical Association, Osahon Enabulele, says while citizens have endured their leaders’ frequent recourse to overseas medical treatment in the past, they may not remain so tolerant if the coronavirus wreaks havoc as it has elsewhere in the world.

“There is no place for any leader to hide anymore,” Enabulele said. “This whole situation of public office holders in Africa, most times using taxpayers’ money to go on foreign medical trips at the slightest discomfort is one thing that will be reversed when this pandemic is over,” Enabulele told CNN.

A terrifying prospect

Infection numbers across the continent, while significantly lower than other parts of the world, are rising exponentially. The World Health Organization recently reported that the number of cases in Africa was now more than 11,000, with 600 deaths.

The pandemic has overwhelmed advanced health facilities, and experts predict it could devastate the continent’s fragile health systems, already plagued by inadequate funding and labor disputes.

Lifesaving machines like ventilators — critical to the management of Covid-19 cases — remain a luxury in some African countries.

The Central African Republic (CAR) has only three ventilators to five million people, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said, warning that an outbreak could bring the tiny African nation to its knees.

“When rich nations are in panic mode stating that thousands of ventilators will not be enough, it just brings to light how poorer nations like CAR don’t stand a chance in the fight against Covid-19,” NRC Country Director in the CAR, David Manan said.

Poor conditions in hospitals is causing 'silent genocide', Zimbabwe medics on strike say

Poor conditions in hospitals is causing ‘silent genocide’, Zimbabwe medics on strike say

The situation is equally dire in Zimbabwe, where health workers in the nation’s hospitals say they lack basics such as bandages and gloves to take care of their patients.

Nurses and doctors abstained from work to protest a shortage of coronavirus protective gear after the country recorded its first fatality last month.

Ugandan popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine told CNN the healthcare system in many African countries cannot handle a mass outbreak of Covid-19.

“I need to remind people that the coronavirus is more serious than they are already taking it. It is killing people in big numbers in Italy where there is a super health care system. So it scares me to even imagine what it can do in Africa if it comes in full effect,” Wine said.

Wine said health care funding has not been at the forefront of government spending in many African countries because their leaders often seek treatment in hospitals abroad.

“It’s clear that healthcare is not a priority for many African governments, and they put very little money into that sector. Anytime they are sick, or their children are having health conditions, they opt to go outside their countries,” Wine said.

“Now the coronavirus pandemic has set a different ground for many African leaders. It has shown that they should have invested in the healthcare system of their countries which would have benefited them and the people in this crisis.”

African countries are at severe risk if outbreaks aren't detected early and contained, says Africa CDC head

African countries are at severe risk if outbreaks aren’t detected early and contained, says Africa CDC head

The lawmaker says monies spent on medical trips abroad could have been used to equip local hospitals with modern medical equipment such as ventilators, which have proved critical in treating some patients who have developed respiratory illnesses because of Covid-19.

Wine said some public hospitals in Uganda had become “death traps” due to years of neglect, and some citizens, including himself, have had to pay prohibitive costs for overseas treatment that could have been cheaper in Uganda.

Between 2019 and 2020, Uganda spent 8.9 percent of its national budget on health down from 9.2 percent from the previous fiscal year, according to UNICEF.

“I have had to spend my funds to seek advance treatment abroad because the procedure could not be provided in this country. But a majority of leaders in Uganda travel abroad for minor care using taxpayers money,” Wine said.

But Uganda’s health minister Jane Aceng told CNN Wine’s assessment of the country’s health system was not accurate.

“Uganda is doing well and that shows with our response to the coronavirus situation. We’re doing well,” she said.

Aceng added that she had all the resources needed to do her job.

The East African nation was one of the first African countries to impose travel and strict quarantine policies to prevent the spread of coronavirus even before it reported a case. It has so far reported 53 cases

A failed pledge

African leaders have consistently neglected their country’s health sector despite several pledges to do improve it, analysts say.

In 2001, the heads of state of 52 African countries met in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja and committed to spending 15 percent of their yearly domestic budget on health.

Just a handful of countries have met this target on the continent. They include Tanzania, Rwanda, Botswana and Zambia, according to the WHO.

Rwanda doubled it’s health care spending over a period of 10 years, the WHO said in the 2017 report. The Central African nation has also received praised for its national health insurance coverage which is the highest on the continent

But a majority have fallen through the cracks in fulfilling this commitment.

Since it signed the declaration, Nigeria has allocated less than six percent of its budget to health, and most of the funds are spent on salaries, according to Nigeria-based budget monitoring organization Budgit.

In a paper published by the Brookings Institute, researchers said although Africa bore 23 percent of the world’s disease burden in 2015, it accounted for only one percent of the global health spending for the same year.

“In per capita terms, the rest of the world spends 10 times more on health care than Africa,” the researchers said.

The researchers predict it may be difficult for the countries on the continent to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with a 2030 deadline with the “current spending environment.”

Wake-up call

Nigerian-British historian Ed Keazor agrees that the fallout from the outbreak is a “wake-up call” for governments to prioritize affordable health care.

Keazor, a cancer survivor said he made the difficult decision to move back to London where he has access to affordable care under the National Health Service even though he works in Nigeria.

The filmmaker said he came to Lagos for a research and film festival in March but got caught in the city after the Nigerian government banned all international flights to contain the spread of the outbreak.

Keazor says he’s missed an appointment with his doctor in the UK due to the travel restriction, and that would not have been a problem if he could get the same quality of care locally.

“If I could get the same quality of care here (Nigeria) as in the UK where I’m a taxpayer and getting good medical services, I would rather stay back here because this is where my work and my larger family is but unfortunately, its not there,” Keazor told CNN.

For now, he hopes the health crisis will change the Nigerian government’s focus to where he says it should be.

“I hope the enormity of this problem has brought home the urgency of investment in health care infrastructure to the government and whatever the country looks like after this crisis is over, our priorities will be focused on heath care and education,” he said.

Culled from CNN

Hundreds of cases have been confirmed in Cameroon but health officials fear there may be many more that are still unreported.

Now, it has launched nationwide testing. As healthcare workers in Cameroon race to contain the spread of COVID-19 infections, door-to-door testing is under way in several regions of the country.

Cameroon has deployed 1,200 medical workers in the commercial hub of Douala, the start of a nationwide door-to-door screening program

Al Jazeera

Clutching flowers, candles and photos, New York hospital workers paid tribute to colleagues who have died from the coronavirus since the beginning of the epidemic that has ravaged the city with a modest ceremony in the freezing cold Friday.

Standing in front of the Mount Sinai Hospital Group in Manhattan, with a heart drawn in electric candles on the sidewalk and letters spelling out the word “HOPE”, they made short speeches remembering the nurses, doctors and other hospital workers who fell victim to the virus.

Many clutched photographs of the deceased.

“We are here to honor, to pray and remember our fallen heroes,” said nurse Joanne Mee Wah Loo to the small group of people who came to pay tribute despite the chill wind.

No one knows exactly how many caregivers have died since the beginning of the epidemic in New York City, the most affected metropolis in the US, with nearly 95,000 people infected and more than 5,800 dead.

But was at Mount Sinai that Kious Kelly, the first New York nurse known to die of coronavirus, passed away at the end of March.

“He was a good person, a hard worker, he loved what he was doing,” says Lenore Leiba, a nurse who knew him and attended this tribute.

“It is important to celebrate his life, their lives, and who they really were. They were not worried about their lives, they were thinking of others.”

– ‘Inhumane’ –

Tirzah Caraballo, surgical pathologist secretary at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, came to honor Christine Hunt, who died last Sunday after 35 years as a receptionist at the hospital.

“She was our mom, our friend, our sister,” Caraballo said.

“She was denied a mask because she was a secretary. And this is why she’s no longer with us.”

In the early days of the pandemic, she explained, administrative staff were not allowed masks as they were reserved for nurses and doctors.

She acknowledges there are now masks for everyone. “Yes, things have improved since, but we lost so many. It shouldn’t have been a decision of who gets a mask and who doesn’t. That’s inhumane,” she said.

The ceremony didn’t last long. It began at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT), the time when the applause for the caregivers in New York City resounded.

A fire truck stopped and several firefighters took the time to applaud, as well as a few passers-by. Forty minutes later, it was over.

“Thank you for coming,” said Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, president of the New York State Nurses Association, who attended the ceremony. “We hope we don’t have to do this again.”

Source: AFP

Africans in southern China’s largest city say they have become targets of suspicion and subjected to forced evictions, arbitrary quarantines and mass coronavirus testing as the country steps up its fight against imported infections.

China says it has largely curbed its COVID-19 outbreak but a recent cluster of cases linked to the Nigerian community in Guangzhou sparked the alleged discrimination by locals and virus prevention officials.

Local authorities in the industrial centre of 15 million said at least eight people diagnosed with the illness had spent time in the city’s Yuexiu district, known as “Little Africa”.

Five were Nigerian nationals who faced widespread anger after reports surfaced that they had broken a mandatory quarantine and been to eight restaurants and other public places instead of staying home.

As a result, nearly 2,000 people they came into contact with had to be tested for COVID-19 or undergo quarantine, state media said.

Guangzhou had confirmed 114 imported coronavirus cases as of Thursday — 16 of which were Africans. The rest were returning Chinese nationals.

It has led to Africans becoming targets of suspicion, distrust and racism in China.

Several Africans told AFP they had been forcibly evicted from their homes and turned away by hotels.

“I’ve been sleeping under the bridge for four days with no food to eat… I cannot buy food anywhere, no shops or restaurants will serve me,” said Tony Mathias, an exchange student from Uganda who was forced from his apartment on Monday.

“We’re like beggars on the street,” the 24-year-old said.

Mathias added that police had given him no information about testing or quarantine but instead told him “to go to another city”.

Police in Guangzhou declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

A Nigerian businessman said he was evicted from his apartment earlier this week.

“Everywhere the police see us, they will come and pursue us and tell us to go home. But where can we go?” he said.

– Growing tensions –

Other Africans said the community had been subject to mass COVID-19 testing even though many had not left China recently, and placed under arbitrary quarantine at home or in hotels.

China has banned foreign nationals from entering the country and many travellers are being sent into 14-day quarantines either in their own accommodation or at centralised facilities.

Thiam, an exchange student from Guinea, said police ordered him to stay home on Tuesday even after he tested negative for COVID-19 and told officers he had not left China in almost four years.

He believes the measures are specifically and unfairly targeting Africans.

“All the people I’ve seen tested are Africans. Chinese are walking around freely but if you’re black you can’t go out,” he said.

Denny, a Nigerian trader evicted from his flat on Tuesday, said police moved him to a hotel for quarantine after he spent several days sleeping on the streets.

“Even if we have a negative test result, police don’t let us stay (in our accommodation) and they don’t give a reason why,” he said.

– ‘Crazy fear’ –

The infections in Guangzhou have sparked a torrent of abuse online, with many Chinese internet users posting racist comments and calling for all Africans to be deported.

Last week a controversial cartoon depicting foreigners as different types of trash to be sorted through went viral on social media.

“There’s just this crazy fear that anybody who’s African might have been in contact with somebody who was sick,” said David, a Canadian living in Guangzhou who did not want to give his full name.

China’s foreign ministry acknowledged this week that there had been some “misunderstandings” with the African community.

“I want to emphasise that the Chinese government treats all foreigners in China equally,” said spokesman Zhao Lijian on Thursday, urging local officials to “improve their working mechanisms”.

The complaints in Guangzhou contrast with a welcome reception to Chinese efforts in battling the coronavirus across the African continent, where Beijing this week donated medical supplies to 18 countries.

“When China engages Africa it’s the central government that does that, but when it comes to immigration enforcement that happens at the local level,” said Eric Olander, managing editor of the China Africa Project.

“That explains why there’s an inconsistency in the more upbeat messaging we hear about Chinese diplomacy on the continent and the increasingly difficult realities that African traders, students and other expatriates face in their day-to-day lives in China.”

Source: AFP

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a “deadly resurgence” of the new coronavirus if countries hurriedly lift the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the pathogen.

“I know that some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions. WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference in Geneva on Friday. “At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly.”

The WHO chief added that the organization was working with countries “on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions.”

The virus has infected more than 1.6 million people globally since it first emerged in China in December last year, according to an AFP tally. The number of deaths is rapidly approaching 100,000.

Meanwhile, Tedros welcomed signs that the spread of the virus was slowing in the worst-hit European countries of Italy, Spain, France, and Germany.

But he reported an “alarming acceleration” of the epidemic in some other countries, highlighting Africa.

“We are now seeing clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries” in Africa, he said.

Africa’s poor healthcare systems have been a main concern for experts, who believe the epidemic could spread far greater in the continent than it has in many other places.

Source: Presstv

Covid-19 has had a big impact on Cameroonians around the country, especially those living in the Centre Region, Littoral, West and Southwest regions. In February 2020, when we first heard of Covid-19 virus, many Cameroonians took the pandemic—and our preparedness to fight it—for granted. The government did not immediately plan or announce any measures to tackle the pandemic. As a result, in the Centre Region, it was business as usual, with educational institutions and commercial spaces remaining open.

Meanwhile, the Northwest and Southwest regions were still reeling from the economic and social impact of the ongoing Anglophone crisis, which began in 2017 and has already taken many lives and caused widespread displacement. The onset of Covid-19 has only aggravated the situation in the Northwest and Southwest regions. After a delayed initial response to the Covid-19 crisis, Cameroon has finally put some measures in place to tackle the pandemic.

Impact of government measures

The Cameroonian government has now announced several measures to curtail the spread of Covid-19. These include social distancing, a ban on public gatherings of 50 or more people, a lockdown of all shops and bars after 6 PM everyday, and a restriction on the number of people that can be ferried in a taxi at a time.

Although businesses used to do relatively well in the Southwest region, with people buying and selling things at a low cost, the onset of Covid-19 has impacted the economy and has significantly hit the supply of goods in this area. The price of hand sanitisers, which were not in much demand previously, has skyrocketed. Masks and gloves have also have seen a rise in price, even as their stocks deplete. The government’s decision to close several marketplaces has had a direct impact on the livelihoods of many people. The government has also closed down Cameroon’s borders, halting the trade of some goods as a result. The situation is graver for those who run small shops as they are now unable to meet the basic needs of their families.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Cameroon maintained a good trade relationship with China. But with the closure of all borders, trade has been hit. Most goods used by Cameroonians are from China, but now there is a stigma attached to Chinese goods due to a lot of misinformation. The Southwest region is experiencing a widespread shortage of products, forcing many to look elsewhere to satisfy their needs. This has made life even more difficult for the less privileged and differently-abled, who are now struggling to access even basic amenities.

Cameroonians have typically neglected health and sanitation issues. Activities such as washing hands, cleaning your surroundings and waste disposal have seldom been followed. Most people did not even know of or how to use hand sanitisers. The healthcare system has also been plagued by malpractice and the incompetence of inadequately trained medical personnel. But with the arrival of Covid-19, there has been some change in personal health and hygiene practices and the functioning of the medical system. The government is working to sensitise Cameroonians around the country on measures to protect themselves against this disease, including issuing communiqués on the proper techinique of on washing your hands with soap.

People comply with advisories

People in the Southwest region have become more aware and alert since the government’s measures to counter the spread of Covid-19 went into action. The government has also set up a dedicated helpline to help people access the right information. News of three alleged cases in the region caused some panic but people have been adhering to the safety and hygiene measures more strictly since then. The cases were later found to be negative, but the people continue to remain cautious and follow the government’s advisories.

Some civil organisations such as Social Change and Establishment Center for Youths and Disabled Persons  are teaching people how to make hand sanitisers and face masks themselves since there is a shortage of these product and those that are available are being sold at a high pricer. Even the artistic community is doing its bit to educate people. A musician in the Southwest region has written a song to help inform people about the dangers of the of the Covid-19 virus.

There has been no positive Covid-19 case in the Southwest region as of now, and people are continuing to adhere to the government restrictions and suggestions. However, the shortage of basic goods continues and people are struggling. The government must take into consideration the concerns of the people, especially the differently-abled and less privileged, and must plan to help them meet their basic needs.

Culled from orfonline.org