Coronavirus: Africa Update

It took awhile for COVID-19 cases to pop up in Africa. The first case occurred in Egypt in mid-February. Since then, I think one can say that the virus is likely gaining steam in various North African countries as well as South Africa.

One could argue that not until mid-March did the virus start getting detected in other African countries. Quartz Africa had a March 13th article on this:

Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia all confirmed their first coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours as the global pandemic picks up pace around the world.



The Kenya case was likely from the United States, maybe the UK. The Ghana case was either from Norway or Turkey. The Ethiopian case was a Japanese man who perhaps picked it up from either Japan or Burkina Faso.

However, the coronavirus has spread quickly to more countries and it is likely that Sub-Saharan Africa is simply behind the curve in terms of the virus spread compared with other continents. The challenge for all African countries will be to keep track of index cases and trace back all contacts of the individuals.

I am writing this article on Friday, March 20th. Per Worldometer at that time, Senegal (outside of previously mentioned North African countries and South Africa) had the most cases in Africa at 47. So I figured I'd search for some articles on what was going on in Senegal and how the virus was spreading. I couldn't find any articles about the more recent cases, but I did find this PM News Nigeria dated March 14th when the case count was at 21:

The ministry said on Friday that all of the 11 confirmed cases are infected by the fifth confirmed case of COVID-19 in Senegal, a 52-year-old Senegalese returning from Italy to Touba via Dakar . . . On March 12, Senegal reported its first cluster infection and first local transmission, with 5 Senegalese nationals tested positive for COVID-19. All of five infected patients are the family members of the fifth COVID-19 patient. 

Once again, Italy is the source of an infection. Perhaps at some point, there will be an article about how cases 22 thru 47 got infected. Can they be traced back to the 5th patient? Maybe one of the other original 11 cases? Or untraceable? That could indicate how easy or difficult it will be for the country to control the spread.

Reuters had a March 19th article that sort of makes one think about what is going on in Iran in terms of resistance from devout Muslims:

Bans on large gatherings are sometimes selectively applied, confusing citizens. Senegal, a mostly Muslim West African country, cancelled religious festivals five days ago, but initially spared Islamic prayers.

“We cannot forbid religious gatherings,” said Mbackiou Faye, a representative of Senegal’s powerful Mouride Muslim brotherhood. “It is with our prayers and our incantations that God answers them and spares us from diseases.”

Late on Wednesday, Senegal - which has 36 cases - ordered both churches and mosques closed.

That will be something to keep an eye on: will the more devout Muslims and Christians in Senegal obey these closures.

The Week has an article that will have you scratching your head:

If you're going to catch coronavirus — as experts believe most of us are — you might as well catch it in Senegal. While delays and limited test kits have left sick Americans in the dark about their COVID-19 status, sometimes for a week or more, the West African nation is testing people and getting results back within as little as four hours, The Washington Post's Danielle Paquette reports. 

Okay, maybe tests that come up with results in as little as four hours aren't that accurate, but you would think that a week is way too long. The week probably has to do with a lack of medical professionals in the US who are validating the test results. If this is the way President Trump fights a war, maybe North Korea should invade the United States (like in the 2012 movie Red Dawn). They might actually win.