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As of Wednesday, April 1, Johns Hopkins University data shows that only five of Africa's 54 countries have reported no coronavirus cases, these are: Comoros, Lesotho, Sao Tome and Principe, Malawi and South Sudan. Egypt became the first African country to report a coronavirus case in February, and 49 of Africa's 54 countries have since then reported cases.  The virus has claimed more than 200 lives on the continent, including the lives of political figures like Somalia's former Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and the former president of the Republic of Congo, Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango. At least 5,820 coronavirus cases and 441 recoveries have been confirmed on the continent.  South Africa has the highest number of coronavirus cases - 1,353, followed by Algeria with 716, Egypt with 710, Morocco with 638, Tunisia with 394, Burkina Faso with 261 and Cameroon with 233.

On Monday, March 23, Nigeria confirmed its first Covid-19 fatality. The Nigeria Center for Disease Control made the announcement in a tweet. The deceased was a 67-year-old man who had underlying health conditions like diabetes and multiple myeloma and was undergoing chemotherapy. He had just returned from the UK where he underwent a medical procedure. The 1st #COVID19 death in Nigeria has been recorded. The case was a 67 year old male who returned home following medical treatment in UK He had underlying medical conditions- multiple myeloma & diabetes & was undergoing chemotherapy Our thoughts are with his family pic.twitter.com/A7STOjTQeW — NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 23, 2020

Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mokgweetsi Masisi of Zimbabwe and Botswana respectively defied their travel bans to attend the inauguration of Namibian President, Hage Geingob. Angola had closed its air, land and sea borders during the week, while Botswana suspended international travel by all government employees. Zimbabwe's President Mnangagwa had announced a national disaster even before Zimbabwe's first coronavirus case was confirmed on Friday. Botswana has the highest number of coronavirus cases in West Africa - 64 cases. The confirmed cases include its ministers of foreign affairs, mines, education, and the interior. Cameroon has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Central Africa, with 40 cases.

On Thursday, March 19, POTUS Trump announced that chloroquine (an anti-malarial) could possibly cure Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which sent residents of Nigeria's two biggest cities (Lagos and Abuja) into a mad rush for the drug. Hospitals in Lagos and Nigeria already reported a number of cases of chloroquine poisoning as many took huge doses of the drug. The price of chloroquine in Nigeria has skyrocketed since the announcement was made, with prices tripling in some areas. America's Food and Drugs Authority, FDA, has however disclaimed the assertion that chloroquine was a cure for Covid-19, saying the agency was still working to examine all possibilities. "One of the things that we promised the American people as we will collect the data and make the absolute right decisions based upon those data about the safety and efficacy of the treatments," said FDA Commissioner Steven Hahn. "We are working expeditiously and we are workin...

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Africa's first WHO head has warned Africa about the big threat the coronavirus poses, and has asked that the continent learns from the rapid spread in other parts of the world. "Africa should wake up, my continent should wake up," said the Ethiopian. The WHO boss told a news conference in Geneva: "WHO's recommendation is actually mass gatherings should be avoided and we should do all we can to cut it from the bud, expecting that the worst could happen." As of March 19, 33 African countries have reported cases, with the total number of cases on the continent surpassing 600, and 17 dead. Over 40 people have recovered from Covid-19 in Africa. On Thursday, March 19, Africa CDC director John Nkengason said there was a high probability that some cases go undetected. "The situation will get worse before it gets better because the chances are clear that people have slipped through," he said. "We are picking some ...

The CHAN (African Nations Championship) 2020 football tournament slated to hold in Cameroon from April 4th to April 25th has been postponed due to the growing coronavirus pandemic. The CHAN local organizing committee met today, Tuesday, March 17th, and in accordance with the authorities of the Confederation of African Football, CAF, decided to suspend the competition. The organizing committee is yet to communicate a new date.  "Despite the relatively low rate of COVID-19 spread on the continent compared to other parts of the world, it is difficult to predict its evolution," was it said in a Confederation of African Football (CAF) statement. "The restrictive and precautionary measures taken by various governments to prevent the spread of the virus has made it increasingly difficult for people to move from one place to another. "Given these challenges, and in order to avoid risking the health of players, officials, partners, and fans, CAF in consultation wi...

Estimates from Johns Hopkins University show that the novel coronavirus has killed more than 6,500 people and infected more than 150,000 people. Measures are being taken worldwide to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the pandemic continues to ravage societies and economies. Egypt which relies heavily on tourism will be suspending all flights in Egyptian airports starting Thursday to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country. State media reports that the Egyptian government has already suspended schools and universities for two weeks. Portugal's Minister of Internal Affairs Eduardo Cabrita revealed that borders between Spain and Portugal will be closed, leaving only nine active crossings open to allow for the transit of workers and goods that are required to cross the border by the end of Monday (today). France has close to 5,500 confirmed coronavirus cases, and has registered 127 deaths. The United Kingdom has around 1,400 confirmed cases and 35 deaths. Germany ha...

South Africa is taking the most drastic measures yet in Africa to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday, March 15th, announced that there were 61 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country. "Never before in the history of our democracy have we been confronted by such a severe situation," Ramaphosa said.  "The SA government has put measures in place to treat those infected. We now have 61 people confirmed positive with the disease in South Africa. Initially, it was people who had travelled from abroad. But we are now dealing with internal transmission of the virus. "We have decided to take urgent and drastic measures to manage the disease, protect the people of our country and to reduce the impact of the virus on our society and on our economy. "There can be no half measures. "We are imposing a travel ban on foreign nationals from high-risk countries such as Italy, Iran, South Korea,...

On Saturday March 15th, four more African countries confirmed their first coronaviruses cases. These are Mauritania, Rwanda, Seychelles and Central African Republic. This takes the tally of infected African countries to 23 from 19 on Friday. Cameroon, via its Minister of Health Manaouda Malache, has confirmed a third coronavirus case - a citizen living in Italy who passed through Paris and arrived Cameroon on March 7. South Africa experienced a 60% surge in its coronavirus cases from 24 on Friday to 38 on Saturday. The country's Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize in a statement said South Africa President Cyril Ramphosa has called for an urgent cabinet meeting on Sunday that will "explore ways of intensifying the country's response to this outbreak." Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Madagascar and Kenya have announced stricter control measures such as closing schools and universities, halting flights and banning public gatherings. Madagascar President Hery Ra...

On Friday, six African countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea, Sudan, Mauritania and Eswatini - reported their first confirmed coronavirus cases. As it stands, a third (19 countries) of Africa’s countries have confirmed cases. The coronavirus epidemic has already recorded 140,000 infections, with 5,000 of those dying. The following African countries have reported coronavirus cases: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritania and Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) . As the novel coronavirus spreads in Africa, concerns about the continent’s ability to contain the disease grow. Health experts believe Africa’s hospitals may not be adequately prepared to care for large numbers of people who may need intensive care and ventilators. However, the number of cases in most of the affected African countries are still in single figures,...