Burundi to boost testing, prez labels COVID-19 'worst enemy'

Burundi’s new president has signaled that his government will take the coronavirus pandemic more seriously than his dead predecessor, calling the virus the country’s “worst enemy” and announcing new screenings.

President Evariste Ndayishimiye on Tuesday said the screenings will be launched wherever clusters of cases are suspected, and that soap prices and water bills will be reduced.

Predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza died last month of what Burundi’s government called a heart attack. His government had been criticized not taking the pandemic seriously.

It kicked out the World Health Organization’s country director, allowed large campaign rallies ahead of the presidential election in May and expressed the belief that divine protection would largely suffice for protection.

Some countries and human rights groups have expressed hope that the new president, an ally of Nkurunziza, might break with certain ways of his predecessor.

Burundi has 170 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AP