Coronavirus: Africa records near 2000 cases

As at 12:31 PM, Tuesday, there is a total of 1998 confirmed cases, 62 deaths, and 132 recoveries in Africa, according to Worldometer.

A total of 43 countries in the continent now have confirmed cases of Covid-19.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced a national lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.

The lockdown is expected to last for three weeks.

While addressing the nation, Mr Ramaphosa said the government “has decided to enforce a national lockdown for 21 days with effect from midnight on Thursday the 26th of March to avoid a human catastrophe.”

Mr Ramaphosa warned that the confirmed total of the coronavirus infection and deaths will “continue to rise” and that the “next few days are crucial.”

To ensure that citizens comply with the lockdown, the president added that the military will be “deployed onto the streets to help police enforce a nationwide lockdown.”

South Africa has a total of 554 confirmed cases as it increased by 152 today.

On Monday, Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire each declared a state of emergency.

Senegal’s total number of confirmed cases increased to 86 and the President has since imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

President Macky Sall said “the speed of the progress of the disease requires us to raise the level of response.”

A city in Democratic Republic of Congo, Lubumbashi, began a 48-hour lockdown “after the arrival of two people with suspected coronavirus aboard a flight from Kinshasa.”

DRC has 45 confirmed cases and two fatalities.

Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ethiopia closed their borders on Monday.

Zimbabwe, after reporting its first death, declared its borders shut to “human traffic except returning residents.”

Also, public gatherings have been banned indefinitely.

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The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, also closed its land borders after registering its first death. Ethiopia also closed its land borders.

Mauritania and Burkina Faso- the hardest-hit country in West Africa with a total of 114 cases and four deaths – have also announced curfews.

The following are countries with confirmed cases:

Country	Confirmed Cases	Deaths	Recoveries
Algeria	230	17	65
Angola	2
Benin	6
Burkina Faso	114	4	7
Cameroon	66		2
CAR	3
Chad	3
Congo	4
Cote D'Ivoire	25		2
DRC	45	2
Djibouti	3
Egypt	366	19	68
Equatorial Guinea	9
Eswatini	4
Ethiopia	12
Eritrea	1
Gabon	6	1
The Gambia	2	1
Ghana	6	1
Guinea	4
Kenya	16
Liberia	3
Morocco	143	9	5
Madagascar	17
Mauritania	2
Mozambique	1
Mauritius	36	2
Namibia	4
Niger	3
Nigeria	40	1	2
Papua New Guinea	1
Rwanda	36
Sudan	2	1
Senegal	86		8
Somalia	1
South Africa	554		4
Seychelles	7
Tunisia	90	3	1
Tanzania	12
Togo	18
Uganda	9
Zimbabwe	3	1
Zambia	3
Total	1998	62	164