Governments across Africa have turned to the police or army to enforce lockdowns which deprive millions of their livelihood. Officials in Mali, which has a population of over 17 million, vociferously denied a report saying they had no ventilators available, explaining that in fact they had 56. Health officials across Africa know hospitals can deal with only a fraction of those needing care if the virus spreads through crowded cities, remote villages and among vulnerable populations such as refugees, malnourished people or those with HIV and other chronic conditions. ![]() The situation is considerably worse elsewhere in the continent. The healthcare system has long had an acute lack of resources and critical facilities remain extremely limited despite recent efforts to expand capacity. Though South Africa has a young population, and Covid-19 is deadlier among older people, there are millions who are vulnerable because of HIV or malnutrition. It comes a day after the country saw its sovereign credit rating downgraded to “junk” status. The pledge follows a 1bn rand donation each by the Oppenheimer and Rupert families, and a government package of more than 3bn rand for industrial firms. Motsepe, who is the president’s brother-in-law and head of investment firm African Rainbow Capital, said the money would be channelled through the government to build water, health and education facilities. Other ministers praised “enormously high levels of cooperation by tens of millions of South Africans who have followed the call by the president to stay at home.”īillionaire Patrice Motsepe announced that his group of companies would donate 1bn rand (£45.5m) to help fight the coronavirus outbreak that has forced the country into total lockdown as infections climb. Before we were going to the shops, but the soldiers are beating people so everyone is inside now,” said Emily Ndemande, a domestic worker who lives in Alexandra. “These are people who don’t have a good will, people who are doing exactly what they were told not to do,” Bheki Cele, minister of police, said. Soldiers wearing face masks and gloves also patrolled Alexandra, a township in northern Johannesburg, and officials said 55 people had been arrested on Friday. In the incident on Saturday, between 200 and 300 people had gathered in a tight-packed crowd outside a popular grocery store, Shoprite, in Yeoville, a crime-prone area in Johannesburg’s central business district. Though the new restrictions have been largely respected in South Africa, police and soldiers have adopted a muscular approach to defiance. Drugs are already rare, with even paracetamol hard to find in Harare, the capital. The country’s limited healthcare system would be rapidly overwhelmed if the virus spread among a population already weakened by malnutrition and diseases such as tuberculosis. Zimbabwe is the latest country to impose a full lockdown, which will come into effect on Monday. Ports, land border crossings and airports are effectively shut to passenger traffic. Most African countries have now imposed measures ranging from shutting schools and banning religious services, to strict lockdowns such as that in South Africa, where all but essential workers must stay home, with only trips to buy groceries or seek medical attention allowed.Īll restaurants, fast-food outlets, pubs, bars and taverns will be shut and transportation of alcohol has been banned. ![]() There have so far been 3,924 cases in the continent, according to the African Union’s Centre for Disease Control, though experts say the figures are a gross underestimate. South Africa’s total number of cases is the highest on the continent, though it also reflects much more extensive testing and tracing than elsewhere. So far, it is believed only one death can be attributed to the virus. ![]() South Africa has recorded more than 1,100 cases of Covid-19, a steep rise in recent days.
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