Headline News

6, April 2020

Coronavirus in Africa: 51 countries, 9,393 cases, 445 deaths, 906 recoveries ⁰

There are now more than over 9,300 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.

According to the latest data by the John Hopkins University and Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases as and when. The whole of Africa has rising cases with only three countries holding out as of April 6.

We shall keep updating this list which will be put in sub-continental blocs: East, West, Central, southern and North Africa. All statistics are sourced from Africa CDC updates, from the John Hopkins University and from official government data.

The classifications are based on where the countries are located especially in the case of countries that belong to two different blocs, like Tanzania in East Africa, despite belonging to EAC and SADC.

Major stats as at April 3

Confirmed cases = 9,393

Number of deaths = 445

Recoveries = 906

Infected countries = 51

Virus-free countries = 3

Countries in alphabetical order

Algeria – 1,320

Angola – 14

Benin – 66

Botswana – 6

Burkina Faso – 345

Burundi – 3

Cameroon – 650

Cape Verde – 7

Central African Republic – 8

Chad – 9

Congo-Brazzaville – 45

DR Congo – 154

Djibouti – 59

Egypt – 1,173

Equatorial Guinea – 16

Eritrea – 29

Ethiopia – 44

Eswatini – 9

Gabon – 24

(The) Gambia – 4

Ghana – 214

Guinea – 121

Guinea-Bissau – 18

Ivory Coast – 261

Kenya – 142

Liberia – 13

Libya – 18

Madagascar – 72

Malawi – 4

Mali – 45

Mauritania – 6

Mauritius – 227

Morocco – 1,113

Mozambique – 10

Namibia – 16

Niger – 184

Nigeria- 232

Rwanda – 104

Senegal – 222

Seychelles – 10

Sierra Leone – 6

Somalia – 7

South Africa – 1,655

South Sudan – 1

Sudan – 12

Tanzania – 22

Togo – 44

Tunisia – 574

Uganda – 52

Zambia – 39

Zimbabwe – 9

Virus-free = Sao Tome and Principe, Comoros, Lesotho, South Sudan

Culled from Africa News

6, April 2020

Cameroonian men whiten skin to look Like their Congolese musician idols ⁰

Skin whitening is no longer a strictly female affair. With so many cosmetic products, men are getting into it too, reducing their melanin levels in order, they say, to “look better”. However, some fear that skin whitening might not only lead to medical problems, but also a loss of identity.

“I always wanted to have lighter skin. I find it cleaner and more presentable. I buy cosmetic products once in two months. It’s not to imitate women, it’s my personal choice”, Séverin, a travel agency manager from Douala, who started lightening his skin several years ago, said.

It is no longer surprising to see a man with black arms or legs and with a lightened face on the streets of the country’s large cities. Some are following fashion, while others want to look like their favourite celebrities. This is the case of Kévine. At 28, this aspiring singer admits to having started whitening his skin to look like his idols.

“I’m a fan of some Congolese celebrities who have lightened skin. The skin of many of those who I admire has become lighter over time. And since I identify with some, of them, I try to be like them by using skin depigmenting products”, he said.

The phenomenon is gaining ground. Beauty stores have noted their new clientele. Karest, a perfume shop manager from Douala, admits having been surprised by men contacting her via social networks to place orders.

“The first time a man contacted me [to buy these products], he told me that he was buying them for his wife. But I ended up realising that those products were for him. He said that next time he bought them, admitting the change and effectiveness. Every week, I get at least five orders from men”, she said.

Online stores have dozens of male customers. Non-lightening cosmetics seller Lucy Ngah confirms this. According to her, most men use products that she sells to smooth out the effects of skin whitening products.

“Some of my male clients who lighten their skin often buy natural soap to reduce the negative effects on their skin, such as greenish veins that appear, acne and redness”, she said.

In Cameroon, women who engage in skin lightening are often criticised, but men are criticised even more. Celebrities suspected of skin lightening are mocked and criticised on social networks. So far, very few male celebrities have dared to take the plunge. Sputnik talked to psychosociologist Maurice Somo to discuss the causes of this social phenomenon.

“From the psychological point of view, skin lightening is a rejection of one’s self-image and a desire to change oneself in accordance with the ideal created in one’s mind. The main motivation of both men and women stems from being admired or lack of admiration”, the specialist explained.

According to the psychosociologist, this behaviour results from the “prestige” of white-skinned people, as well as other people with a light skin tones, in Africa. In addition, some start lightening their skin to imitate others, or to demonstrate their socioeconomic success.

“In sub-Saharan Africa, fair skin is considered very close to the white ideal. By the way, mestizos are very popular. Fair skin is also proof of the economic status, which makes it possible to make the skin tone you want. Ultimately, the main motivation is the inferiority complex regarding to the natural skin colour”.

The negative impact of skin lightening is not only limited to psychological disorders, of which it is indicative. This social phenomenon also indicates serious health problems. In a country where they are struggling with fake medicines, which can still be found on the market, many cosmetic products enter the market without having previously obtained the necessary authorisations.

Cameroon regularly holds awareness campaigns to draw attention to the long-term effects of skin lightening, but apparently they are ineffective. Until minds change, people will continue lightening their skin…

Source: Sputniknews

6, April 2020

Biya regime turns stadium into isolation centre as coronavirus cases hit 650 ⁰

Cameroon has turned a football stadium in the country into an accommodation centre for coronavirus patients as authorities grapple with lack of space to lodge and treat the growing number of people testing positive for the virus.

Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie, said on Saturday that the Yaounde military stadium will now serve as one of the large capacity centres in the capital expected to increase the country’s management capacity to more than 3,000 beds.

He had earlier accompanied the Secretary General of the Cameroon Presidency, Mr Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, for an inspection of the stadium.

Authorities are also using some newly constructed social housing apartments in the country as accommodation centres.

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Central African country have hit 650 as it recorded nine deaths and 17 recoveries.

The country was the fifth on the continent with the highest number of confirmed cases after South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco as at Saturday.

Source: Daily Nation

6, April 2020

OPEC Fund supports Cameroon’s cotton sector ⁰

The OPEC Fund is contributing €30 million to support the Republic of Cameroon’s production and trade of cotton fiber.

The financing facility, which is led by the International Islamic Trade Financing Corporation (ITFC), will enable Cameroon to finance the purchase of agricultural inputs which will be processed into cotton fiber and sold into the export markets.

Cotton is an important product in Cameroon. The sector employs around 200,000 farmers, while over 2 million people benefit along the value chain.

Source: opecfund.org

6, April 2020

Coronavirus Pandemic: Why the resistance against hydroxychloroquine? ⁰

The world is used to thinking that American systems are the best in the world, but a small virus has simply exposed the so-called superpower.

While other countries have gone about the spread of the Coronavirus in a quiet and philosophical manner, in America, it has become a soap opera, with politics standing in the way of business.

Just agreeing on the way forward has been an Herculean task. America is not the only democracy in the world and it is not the only developed country in this planet of ours.

I have always held that size is not necessarily a sign of strength. For decades, Japan with a small population was a lot stronger, both militarily and economically than China that has always counted over a billion inhabitants.

Today, the American tenet that bigger is better is simply falling apart. Its ability to deal with health emergencies has been tested and this country has failed the test woefully.

The American health system leaves much to be desired and due to nasty politics, it will be tough to get the system fixed.

The American healthcare system like the country’s electoral system needs a facelift, but this will not be possible in a context in which winning an election trumps over other components of life.

The political bickering is making it hard for even the smallest things to be achieved. Even in the face of a pandemic that is robbing many families of their happiness, Americans are still fighting, instead of working together to keep this invisible enemy at bay.

There is no cure for this pandemic and it seems to be determined to spread across the country at lightning speed. For now, the only hope is the use of hydroxychloroquine to save some lives, but the pushback is incredible.

For weeks, the American drama has been playing out, but it is not palatable to millions across the world.

The world is really sick and tired of hearing Americans resisting the use of hydroxychloroquine which is already being used in other countries.

This medication is being tried in Canada and a French expert has proven that lives have been saved, thanks to this medication.

I know some American media networks such as CNN hate Trump with his policies and they are doing a great job at giving him a very bad name for floating the idea that hydroxychloroquine could be used, especially in an election year. But what options do Americans really have in the face of this pandemic that is mowing down many of their fellow citizens?

This medication has been used for decades against malaria in Africa and it did really save so many lives. Its side effects are known and its potential to slow down the virus is no longer a secret.

Is the world going to wait for American laboratories to accept that this drug be used before it becomes useable across the world?

Anyways, for many people across the world who are simply spectators, they will continue to watch this drama from a distance as Americans die like flies which have been sprayed with a strong insecticide.

There is an urgent need to save lives and many people around the world think that a lot of flexibility needs to be demonstrated when the world is faced with medical emergencies.

Of what value will it be to manufacture a ‘silver bullet’ that will take two years when everybody would have been dead and gone?

If this medication had all the side effects Americans are raising today, why did they ship this drug to Africa? Is it that Africans are not human enough? The number of deaths in America will continue to rise if strong and robust measures are not taken. And for now, only hydroxychloroquine holds that promise.

In less than a month, America has lost more than 8,000 people. How many more Americans need to die before the CNN and other media outfits that hate the Trump administration can understand that the world has been thrust into a race against time?

What if Trump’s gamble pays off, will the CNN and its likes acknowledge their own mistakes? Many non-Americans usually side with the Democrats, but in this case, they don’t think lives must be wasted just because the idea is Trump’s.

A little bit of modesty and caution could help postpone death for thousands of Americans who are waiting for any medication that can bring them some relief.

How did China cure its own cases? Can Americans be humble enough to learn from those who have already gone through this ordeal?

For how long are they going to continue fighting each other while the real enemy continues to blight their lives?

This is no time for talking. All efforts must be geared towards finding a solution. It does not really matter who comes up with one. The world just needs to roll back the insidious virus. That should be the focus.

By Dr Joachim Arrey

5, April 2020

Coronavirus deaths rise above 65,000 worldwide as registered cases surpass 1.2 million ⁰

More than 1,206,480 declared cases have been registered in 190 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these cases, at least 233,300 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP offices from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are only testing cases that require hospitalisation.

Italy, which recorded its first coronavirus death at the end of February, has 15,362 fatalities, with 124,632 infections and 20,996 people recovered.

Spain recorded 12,418 fatalities and 130,759 infections, followed by the United States with 8,503 deaths and 312,245 cases — the highest in the world.

France has reported 7,560 deaths and 89,953 infections, followed by Britain (4,313 deaths and 41,903 cases).

China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 3,329 deaths and 81,669 cases, with 76,964 recoveries.

Europe has listed 642,330 cases and 47,093 deaths to date, the US and Canada together have 326,117 cases with 8,747 deaths, Asia 117,571 cases and 4,172 deaths, the Middle East 74,670 cases and 3,779 deaths, Latin America and the Caribbean 30,539 cases with 1,052 deaths, Africa 8,578 cases with 388 deaths and Oceania 6,675 cases with 41 deaths.

Source: AFP

5, April 2020

Queen Elizabeth calls for ‘self-discipline’ in coronavirus fight ⁰

Queen Elizabeth told the British people on Sunday that they would overcome the coronavirus outbreak if they stayed resolute in the face of lockdown and self-isolation, invoking the spirit of World War Two in an extremely rare broadcast to the nation.

In what was only the fifth televised address of her 68-year reign, Elizabeth called upon Britons to show the resolve of their forbears and demonstrate they were as strong as generations of the past.

“Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it,” the 93-year-old monarch said in the address from her Windsor Castle home where she is staying with her husband Prince Philip, 98.

“While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal. We will succeed – and that success will belong to every one of us.”

The broadcast came hours after officials said the death toll in Britain from the virus had risen by 621 in the last 24 hours to 4,934 with high fatalities still expected in the next week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is among those in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, and the queen’s own son and heir Prince Charles, 71, has recovered after suffering mild symptoms of the virus.

Like many countries in Europe, Britain is in a state of virtual lockdown, with people told to stay at home unless it was essential to go out. Health minister Matt Hancock said even stricter rules might be imposed if the current rules to curb the spread of the virus were flouted.

World War Two Spirit

Elizabeth thanked those who were staying at home, thereby helping to spare others from suffering the grief already felt by some families.

She also paid tribute to health care staff for their selfless work and commended the “heart-warming” stories of people across the Commonwealth, of which she is head, and beyond for delivering food and medicines to those who needed them.

Sunday’s address was extremely rare as the queen usually only speaks to the nation in her annual televised Christmas Day message.

In order to ensure any risk to the elderly monarch herself was mitigated, it was filmed in a big room to ensure a safe distance between her and the cameraman, who wore gloves and a mask and was the only other person present.

Elizabeth said the situation reminded her of her first ever broadcast in 1940, when she and her late sister Margaret spoke from Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes to escape bombing raids by Nazi German aircraft.

She said that in the future people could take pride in how they too had dealt with such a challenge and disruption to their lives.

“Those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any,” she said. “That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country. The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.”

She even invoked the words of the famous song “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn from World War Two which became a symbol of hope for Britons during the conflict.

“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return,” she said. “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”

(REUTERS)

5, April 2020

France reports 357 new coronavirus hospital deaths in 24-hour period ⁰

France on Sunday reported 357 coronavirus deaths in hospital in 24 hours, a lower tally than in each of the previous two days, bringing the country’s total death toll to 8,078.

The total death tally included 5,889 patients who died in hospital, and 2,189 people in old age homes and other medical facilities, a government statement said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

5, April 2020

The Present Continuous Tense of Palm Sunday ⁰

Ste Anne’s Parish, Salem MA, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

Palm Sunday Catechesis: (April 5, 2020)

The Present Continuous Tense of Palm Sunday:

“Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord” (Mark 11:9)

Dear Holy People of God,

Today, we celebrate the liturgy of Palm Sunday, in which we enter in a sacramental sense, Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem.

1. In the Gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke, more pointedly in Luke, Jesus’ entire ministry is one, long preparation for this journey to Jerusalem, so much so that Jerusalem, the City of David, appears as the interpretive principle of the ministry of Jesus: Jesus lives for the vision of Jerusalem, a vision that embodies the universalization of the Yahweh’s promise through Israel to the nations of the world: “And many peoples and great nations will come to seek the LORD Sabaoth in Jerusalem and to entreat the favour of the Lord” (Zechariah 8:22). Hence, the journey to Jerusalem, in the light of the inner development of Israel’s faith, marks an eschaton moment in which the particularity of Israel’s calling as a nation by God (Genesis 12), is accorded a definitive and an irrevocable openness to the nations.

2. With this journey, Israel’s Passover becomes the Passover of the nations, and only in this sense can the Christian enter into the spiritual heritage of Israel’s faith: the Passover, celebrated in Jerusalem, in the particularity of Israel, becomes the Eucharist, in the universality of the nations, so much so that the words of the Psalmist find their concrete fulfillment: “From the rising of the sun to its setting praised be the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 113:3).

3. On the other hand, the Gospel of John presents not one (like the Gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke), but three Passover Feasts, namely, the cleansing of the temple (John 2:13-25), the multiplication of the loaves (John 6:4), and finally, the Passover of the death and resurrection of Jesus (John 12:1, 13:1). For the write of the gospel of John, Jesus is the Passover Lamb who, as the Lamb of God, takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

4. There are therefore, two versions of the journey to Jerusalem in the four gospels: the gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke embody one layer of meaning in which the public ministry of Jesus is a single ascent to the mountain city of Jerusalem, and, on the other hand, the version of the Gospel of John, in which there is a back and forth from Jerusalem, and in the final analysis, Jesus becomes the Sacrificial Lamb for the world.

Given this biblical context, let us examine more closely, the text that, in my opinion, stands out from today’s liturgy of the word:

5. The text is from the cry of the crowds that followed Jesus: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord” (Mark 11:9). As Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI points out in a very significant text, “People had heard of the prophet from Nazareth, but he did not appear to have any importance for Jerusalem, and the people there did not know him. The crowd that paid homage to Jesus at the gateway to the city was not the same crown that later demanded his crucifixion” (Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. II, p. 8).

6. Dear Holy People of God, very early on, Christian liturgy saw in the proclamation of the Palm Sunday crowds, the entry into the abiding presence of the Lord who comes. Palm Sunday led the early Church to quite organically, place this proclamation just before the Rite of Consecration, in the text of the Holy, Holy, Holy Lord: the triple Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, holy, holy, holy, is a reminder of the Trinitarian God: the first “Holy” is to the Father, the second “Holy” is to the Son, and the third “Holy” is to the Spirit (Augustine of Hippo, De Trinitate).

7. I do not think that the decision of the early Church to chant the “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, (…) Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna to the Son of David (…),” just before the Rite of Consecration, – as we still do today at every Holy Mass, was an exercise in serendipity. I think the Hosanna chant showed a conscious profession that in what they were about to encounter in the form of Bread and Wine, in the Eucharist species, the Son of David, just as he rode into Jerusalem, truly comes into the Jerusalem of the Church of the here and now.

8. In this sense, therefore, Palm Sunday takes on a new meaning, thanks to the sacramental sense of the Christian liturgy. Palm Sunday is not something of the past. In the liturgy, Palm Sunday comes alive. The Lord comes into the assembly gathered around his Name. The Eucharistic liturgy is therefore, the locus, the place wherein Palm Sunday happens. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” the Church’s faith proclaims before the Rite of Consecration.

9. The Liturgy of the Church is therefore, the sure guarantee of the timelessness and present-continuousness of Palm Sunday. Only in that chant of the Church’s faith, do we find the enduring meaning and efficacy of Palm Sunday. And if such is the state of things, it therefore is the case that Palm Sunday can only come alive and be sensible when the individual is united or allows the self to enter into the believing community. In other words, it is possible to have a nirvana-experience of Palm Sunday.

10. And isn’t this a source of hope and encouragement for us today, when, frightened so much by the pandemic of COVID 19, we might feel alone, perhaps abandoned, frightened and anxious about the present and the future? Palm Sunday, as a gateway into the communio of the reality of the Church, offers us the comfort that the Lord is coming, a coming that is not just something of the future, talk less of the past, but a coming that is, in its most profound level, a thing of the present, a present that brings the past with it and opens up to the future, thereby ensuring a present-continuous sense of purpose and meaning, for with the Lord, present in our midst, the believer knows that he or she has a future, for where the Lord is, life overcomes death, light overcomes darkness, love overcomes loneliness and the fear of the unknown. And because the Lord is coming to us, the believer can face tomorrow and today! Amen!

11. May the Lord bless you and keep you! May the Lord let his light shine upon you! May the Lord be close to you and fill you with his peace!

Fr Maurice Agbaw-Ebai

5, April 2020

Queen Elizabeth will ask Britain to show resolve against coronavirus in rare address ⁰

Queen Elizabeth will call on Britons to show the same resolve as their forebears and take on the challenge and disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak with good-humoured resolve when she makes an extremely rare address to rally the nation on Sunday.

In what will only be her fifth special televised message to the country during her 68 years on the throne, the queen will also thank healthcare workers on the front line and recognise the pain already suffered by some families.

“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. And those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any,” the 93-year-old monarch will say, according to extracts released by Buckingham Palace.

“That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country.”

On Saturday, the government said the death toll of those who had tested positive for the virus rose by 708 in 24 hours to 4,313, with a 5-year-old among the dead, along with at least 40 who had no known previous health conditions.

Health officials have cautioned that high fatalities were expected for at least another week or two even if people complied with strict isolation measures.

Like many countries in Europe, Britain is in a state of virtual lockdown, with pubs, restaurants and nearly all shops closed, and social gatherings banned.

Britons have been told to stay at home unless it is absolutely essential to venture out to try to stop the spread of the epidemic. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is still in self-isolation, and a number of senior ministers have been among those who have tested positive for the virus.

‘As strong as any’

“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time,” Elizabeth will say in what has been framed as a deeply personal message.

“A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.”

Sunday’s address, which will be aired at 1900 GMT, was recorded at Windsor Castle where the monarch is staying with her husband Prince Philip, 98.

In order to ensure any risk to the queen herself was mitigated, it was filmed in a big room to ensure a safe distance between her and the cameraman, who was wearing personal protective equipment and was the only other person present.

Earlier this week, Elizabeth’s son and heir Prince Charles, 71, came out of self-isolation himself after seven days following a positive test.

The queen usually only broadcasts to the nation with her annual televised Christmas Day message and this special address will be only the fifth she has made.

The last was in 2012 following celebrations to mark her 60th year as queen. That came a decade after the preceding broadcast which followed the death of her mother, the Queen Mother, in 2002 when she thanked Britons for their messages of condolence.

She also gave an address at the start of the Gulf War in 1991, and most famously, delivered a sombre live broadcast after the death of her daughter-in-law Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 amid a national outpouring of grief and criticism of the royal family’s response.

(REUTERS)