The World Health Organization warns that the data on COVID-19 on the African continent may not “paint the full picture” of the pandemic’s public health impact While Africa has been spared the COVID-19 crises seen in nations like the United States, China, Russia and Brazil, it is likely that cases…
The number of coronavirus cases in South Africa continues to climb, with the Ministry of Health reporting 30 additional deaths on Thursday and a toll that has reached 369 victims. Among them is a 2-day-old baby who was born prematurely and did not survive on a ventilator. “The mother had…
Beijing was on the defensive Monday, as the World Health Assembly in Geneva began with a draft resolution from 110 nations, many of them on the African continent, calling for an inquiry into the source of the deadly coronavirus believed to have originated in China in late 2019. The seven-page…
By Olusegun Obasanjo and Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe Africa has so far escaped the worst health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the continent looks like it could be the worst hit from the economic fallout of the crisis: 80 million Africans could be pushed into extreme poverty if action is…
There are more than 4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the globe, including more than 285,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization on Friday. Children have been spared for the most part, but a rise in cases of a mysterious inflammatory syndrome that doctors think is related to…
Leaders of four East African Community (EAC) member nations have agreed to new measures for truck drivers, spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and the frequent crossing of regional borders. The presidents of Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Kenya say they’re coordinating a plan to have drivers tested and certified at…
The Human Rights Watch organization is sounding the alarm over Egypt’s COVID-related emergency powers legislation, which would expand the power of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi regardless of any public health link to a stated emergency. “President al-Sisi’s government is using the pandemic to expand, not reform, Egypt’s abusive Emergency Law,”…
United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic are helping to battle the coronavirus pandemic alongside the government led by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, and one of their priorities is shutting down misinformation about COVID-19. MINUSCA is distributing 50,000 solar-powered radios to communities in CAR to improve people’s access to health…
Some of the greatest luminaries in the arts and sciences – from Nobel prize-winning astrophysicists, to singer Madonna to the economist Muhammad Yunus – have published a joint statement insisting that the world cannot go “back to normal” and must consider the COVID-19 crisis an urgent call for new pathways…
Tanzania’s main opposition party has called on its affiliated MPs to avoid parliamentary meetings and committee work because of the spread of the coronavirus, which has claimed several of its members. Party for Democracy and Development (Chadema) leader Freeman Mbowe, who has been sharply critical of President John Magufuli’s response…
Madagascar continues to promote a controversial herbal remedy for COVID-19, and now Guinea Bissau has become the third African nation with leaders expressing interest in the Tambavy Covid Organics product for their own citizens. That’s according to President Andry Rajoelina, who has been touting the traditional remedy developed by scientists…
Funds from the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) will start going out to eligible low-income nations as early as next week, according to an announcement from the bank on Monday. The US$195.8 million is headed to 64 of the world’s poorest countries with confirmed cases of COVID-19, including…
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria was among African leaders who welcomed the holy month of Ramadan late Thursday, while cautioning that this year’s observance must be held with precautions because of the global coronavirus pandemic. Buhari’s remarks followed the sighting of the moon that marks the beginning of the 30-day…
A senior United States official says the U.S. remains in close contact with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and the continent’s national public health agencies in support of the COVID-19 response. The unnamed official, who provided a U.S. Department of State briefing on Wednesday, said the U.S. is far…
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a new and global ban on immigration to the United States will last at least 60 days, as part of his administration’s effort to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the controversial move appeared to have more to do with Trump’s protectionist economic policies…