25, March 2020
Coronavirus hits war-ravaged Mali, sparks scare among Nigerian leaders 0
Four countries led by war-ravaged Mali on Wednesday joined the lengthening list of African countries hit by the novel coronavirus as fears of the disease swept members of Nigeria’s political elite.
Mali, mired in an eight-year-old conflict, said two nationals who had returned from France had tested positive for the virus.
Libya, another conflict-torn country, as well as the volatile West African state of Guinea-Bissau and Uganda in East Africa also reported their first cases of COVID-19.
More than 2,400 cases were recorded in all of Africa as of Wednesday, according to an AFP tally, with 64 deaths.
Although the toll is far lower than those recorded in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, health experts say the world’s poorest continent is especially vulnerable to the virus.
Poor healthcare infrastructure, weak governance and crowded slums present ideal conditions for the respiratory disease to spread.
Conflict, in particular, is a major factor in aggravating the risk.
Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012 which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.
The conflict has since spread to the centre of the country, and large swathes of the vast semi-arid state lie outside of government control.
The government, which earlier banned commercial flights from virus-stricken countries, appealed for the public to “remain calm and to strictly respect the recommended preventive measures”.
The UN on Wednesday placed the spotlight on the Central African Republic (CAR), also gripped by conflict.
CAR “is one of the least prepared countries to face a COVID-19 outbreak, with 2.2 million people already in need of health assistance and about 70 percent of health services provided by humanitarian organisations,” the country’s coronavirus Global Humanitarian Response Plan warned.
– ‘Jittery’ in Nigeria –
In the Nigerian capital Abuja, meanwhile, fears spread of coronavirus infection among senior politicians.
A number of state governors as well as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were in self-isolation after coming into contact with two individuals infected with COVID-19.
According to the president’s office and local media, one of them is President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, one of Nigeria’s most influential figures.
The political elite “is in panic mode following the confirmed case of the chief of staff,”a source close to the presidency said.
“As the engine room of government, (Kyari) has contact with various segments of the society. So everybody who has had contact with him since he returned from Germany is jittery. Most of us are in self-isolation.”
Nigeria’s elite often jet abroad for private medical care, typically favouring Britain or the United States, rather than entrusting themselves to the country’s rundown hospitals.
“STUCK!”, said author Elnathan John on social media. “Nowhere to run.”
Buhari, 77, who was re-elected in February last year, made several trips to London during his first four-year term for a condition that has never been disclosed.
– Lockdowns, curfews –
African states have been adopting increasingly restrictive measures against the invisible peril.
Senegal and Ivory Coast have declared states of emergency and ordered nighttime curfews, similar to South Sudan, which has ordered a nightly lockdown from 8 pm to 6 am.
South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, is set to enter a lockdown from Thursday.
Ethiopia announced Wednesday it would free more than 4,000 prisoners to help prevent an outbreak in overcrowded prisons.
The measures will apply to those jailed for “petty crimes” and drug offences or have less than a year remaining on their sentences.
Conditions in Ethiopia’s prisons are “harsh and in some cases life-threatening,” marred by “gross overcrowding and inadequate food, water, sanitation and medical care,” according to the latest annual human rights report on Ethiopia from the US State Department.
Source: AFP
25, March 2020
UN launches virus aid plan, says all of humanity at risk 0
The coronavirus pandemic is threatening the entire human race, the United Nations warned Wednesday as it launched a humanitarian response plan featuring an appeal for $2 billion to help the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
“COVID-19 is threatening the whole of humanity -– and the whole of humanity must fight back,” Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in announcing the initiative.
“Global action and solidarity are crucial. Individual country responses are not going to be enough.”
Just last week, as the novel coronavirus spread to more and more countries, killing thousands and infecting many more, Guterres warned that unless the world came together to curb the spread, millions of people could die.
The plan “aims to enable us to fight the virus in the world’s poorest countries, and address the needs of the most vulnerable people, especially women and children, older people, and those with disabilities or chronic illness,” said Guterres.
If fully funded, “it will save many lives and arm humanitarian agencies and NGOs with laboratory supplies for testing, and with medical equipment to treat the sick while protecting health care workers,” he added.
The amount of money sought by the plan is small compared to the $2 trillion that the US Congress is poised to approve as a rescue effort for devastated American consumers, companies and hospitals as the world’s largest economy grinds to a sudden halt.
– Two scenarios –
The UN plan is designed to last from April to December — suggesting the world body does not see the health crisis abating any time soon.
The exact total of $2.012 billion is supposed to flow in in response to appeals that various UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme, have already made.
Guterres said that in parallel, humanitarian aid provided yearly by member states to help 100 million people around the world must continue.
Otherwise, he said, the coronavirus pandemic could lead to rampant outbreaks of other diseases such as cholera and measles, as well as higher levels of malnutrition.
“This is the moment to step up for the vulnerable,” Guterres said.
As spelled out in an 80-page booklet, the UN plan will be carried out by UN agencies that work directly with non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
It will be coordinated by the UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Mark Lowcock of Britain.
The money will be used for a variety of purposes: to set up hand-washing facilities in refugee camps, launch public awareness campaigns and establish humanitarian air shuttles with Africa, Asia and Latin America, the UN says.
The exact needs of some countries are still being identified.
The plan names 20 or so as deserving top priority for aid, including some enduring war or some degree of conflict, such as Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Yemen, Venezuela and Ukraine.
But countries such as Iran and North Korea are also analyzed in the booklet.
The plan foresees two general scenarios as to how the pandemic might evolve.
Under the first, the pandemic is brought under control relatively quickly as its rate of spread slows over the course of three or four months. This, it says, would allow for a relatively swift recovery in terms of public health and the economy.
But under the second model, the pandemic spreads quickly in countries that are poor or developing, mainly in Africa, Asia and parts of the Americas.
“This leads to longer periods of closed borders and limited freedom of movement, further contributing to a global slowdown that is already under way,” said the UN.
Source: AFP