Six African nations spared of COVID-19

Burundi has inaugurated its coronavirus detection system at a time when the country seems to have been spared from the pandemic that is affecting most nations in Africa and around the world.

Health Minister Thadée Ndikumana gave a tour of the laboratory of the National Institute of Public Health to the press .

According to the government, the infrastructure meets the standards of the World Health Organization.

“Burundi has organized according to its means. We have already allocated an apartment at the Prince Louis Hospital, equipped with oxygen, but we also have eight rooms that are actually available at the military hospital, while Burundi is in the process of finalising a hospital with a capacity of more than one hundred people in Mudubugu”, Ndikumana said.

Despite zero case of the coronavirus in Burundian territory, authorities are intensifying precautionary measures to its citizens especially in public places.

“It’s a very scary disease, that’s how they describe it on the radio. The authorities warn us to enter the market after washing our hands thoroughly and if possible to leave our homes after washing our hands”, Alexis Nzohabonayo, a trader said.

In addition to Burundi, five other African countries were spared by covid-19 as of Tuesday March 31. There are two islands: Comoros and Sao Tome and Principe. The rest are mostly landlocked countries such as Lesotho, Malawi and South Sudan.

AFP