African Countries Affected With CoronaVirus At Of 15th March 2020

Coronavirus: 26 African countries affected, cases rising

The coronavirus was confirmed in the Chinese city of Wuhan on January 7, 2020. Cases have since been confirmed in over 80 countries across the globe.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has since declared it a public health emergency of international dimensions. WHO chief Tedros Ghebereyesus said whiles China had a robust health system to detect and control, his outfit remained concerned about the virus entering country’s with weak systems.

Almost all African governments have publicly put in place strict screening at points of entry especially airports. Cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal and Nigeria... Expect The Gambia, and we thank Almighty God / Allah, African airlines have cancelled scheduled flights to China except for Ethiopian Airlines.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to MERS coronavirus, which is Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus and SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus.

In this article, we will share the latest developments as authorities implement measures to contain the spread of the virus, especially on the African continent. Uganda earlier this week returned some travellers who refused ti be quarantined upon arrival in the country.

Africa is seeing a steady spread of the coronavirus across the continent, with five new countries confirming cases on Saturday, so that 24 of Africa’s 54 countries have COVID-19 patients.

Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Namibia and Rwanda reported their first cases Saturday. All were brought to the continent by travelers from overseas, as with almost all the other cases reported in Africa, according to health authorities.

African governments and health officials are racing to try to contain the spread of the new virus on the continent of 1.3 billion people. If the disease spreads locally within the continent, health officials warn that several countries with fragile health systems could see higher mortality rates.

Namibia, which confirmed two cases of people who arrived from Spain, canceled its independence celebrations planned for March 21. The funds that were to have been spent on the independence festivities will now be used to fight the further spread of the coronavirus, said officials.

President Hage Geingob will be sworn into a second term of office, but all other large gatherings have been suspended for the next 30 days. Flights linking Namibia to and from Qatar, Ethiopia and Germany have been suspended for 30 days.

In response to two cases it confirmed on Saturday, Mauritania closed schools for a week, reduced border crossing points, placed a ban on public gatherings and called for travelers from countries at risk to voluntarily confine themselves at home.


As at Sunday March 15, the African case tally is as follows:

- Egypt
- Algeria
- South Africa
- Tunisia
- Senegal
- Morocco
- Cameroon
- Burkina Faso
- Nigeria
- Togo
- DR Congo
- Congo
- Seychelles
- Rwanda
- Central African Republic
- Namibia
- Sudan
- Mauritania
- Lesotho
- Eswatini
- Kenya
- Guinea
- Ghana
- Gabon
- Ivory Coast
- Ethiopia