24, March 2020
Italian Priest Dies from Coronavirus After Giving up Ventilator to Another Patient 0
A 72-year-old priest in Italy has died from coronavirus after giving up his respirator to a younger patient, whom he did not know.
Parishioners bought a respirator for Father Giuseppe Berardelli, from the town of Casnigo in the northern Italian province of Bergamo, after the priest had tested positive for coronavirus. Hearing there was another, younger patient suffering from the disease and who had no ventilator, Father Berardelli gave him his own.
“Father Giuseppe Berardelli died as a priest,” said one of the healthcare workers in the Saint Joseph retirement home where the priest lived. “I am profoundly moved by the fact that he, as archpriest of Casnigo, freely renounced his respirator to give it to someone younger than him.”
The priest died during the night of March 15 in the hospital of Lovere, in Bergamo, but his story only began to circulate on Italian media on Monday. Like many others who have succumbed to the disease, Father Berardelli already suffered from severe health complications.
The deceased priest is being compared to Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II and offered to take the place of another prisoner who had been condemned to death.
In punishment for an escaped prisoner, guards had randomly chose ten prisoners to be starved to death. One of the men chosen began to plead for his life, insisting that he had a wife and family. At that point Father Kolbe offered to take the man’s place, noting that he had no wife, after which the priest was thrown in the starvation bunker, where he died days later.
At least 50 priests have reportedly died with the coronavirus in Italy, many of whom followed the appeal of Pope Francis to go out and assist others during this difficult time, even at the risk of their own lives.
As of Monday evening, Italy has reported 6,077 deaths of people with coronavirus, at an average age of 81, almost all of whom suffered from other serious diseases. Since March 9, Italy has been under a state-imposed lockdown, with its economy at a standstill and citizens confined to their homes.
Source: Breitbart.com
25, March 2020
COVID-19 Spread Provokes Anti-Foreigner, Anti-Diaspora Sentiment in Cameroon 0
Officials in Cameroon are calling on citizens to stop attacks on foreigners and visitors from the diaspora who are being blamed for an increase in coronavirus cases. The attacks began after some passengers on an Air France flight that landed in Cameroon last week ignored a quarantine order.
Forty-three-year-old businessman Ferdinand Muffo Che says he has been victim of regular attacks and harassment since he returned to Yaounde from Milan, Italy through France on March 17.
He says residents of Ekounou, the neighborhood where he lives, accuse him of being a healthy carrier infecting people with COVID-19.
“I do not see why my own country where I was born will reject me because I have been out. The coronavirus is a problem that concerns the whole world,” he said.
Che is one of 198 passengers of an Air France flight that landed at the Douala International airport on March 17. The government ordered all of its passengers to be isolated in hotels for at least 15 days.
Instead, many of them escaped to their homes, provoking the anger of some Cameroonians.
On the streets of Yaounde, attacks and insults on people identified as foreigners, especially whites and Chinese, have increased sharply in the last week.
The U.S. Embassy in Yaounde has reported a rise in verbal and online harassments, stone throwing and banging of vehicles occupied by expatriates.
Spreading misinformation
Ebenezer Mukete, 29, says he is among those who joined the attacks.
He alleges that COVID-19 was created by either the U.S. or China for commercial purposes and unfortunately, developed into a health crisis. There is no scientific evidence to support his allegation.
“They create the so called pandemic, and they come and inflict{spread} in Africa,” he said. “When you listen to the French president, he says France is at war, American president comes out and says America is at war. Let them fight their war not in Africa. The minister of public health is telling us that the cases are from abroad. Whites coming to transmit it to Cameroonians, so let them go away. We do not have any other choice than to attack them.”
Cameroon health minister Manaouda Malachie has called on the population to stop the attacks.
He adds that everyone should respect measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
He says people who came in from Europe, China and America before Cameroon closed its borders should not be stigmatized, but that they as well as any other Cameroonian who has cold, severe respiratory syndrome, runny nose, cough, sore throat and tiredness, should contact the nearest hospital. He says those who are running from isolation should know that they may be putting the lives of their families and communities in danger and that they will be treated free of charge if tested positive.
Confirmed cases
Cameroon confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on February 6. On Monday, officials said the number of confirmed cases had increased to 40, with a majority of them imported. Seven are Cameroonians infected by their relatives who came from Europe.
In an effort to stop the spread of the virus, Cameroon last week closed all its borders and suspended issuance of visas into the country until further notice.
Source: VOA