At least 30 African countries have now confirmed cases of coronavirus within their jurisdictions.
The total number of cases have now hit at least 413 with 8 fatalities, as more countries report of their first cases.
On Monday Tanzania, Liberia, Benin and Somalia confirmed their first coronavirus cases with Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Cameroon reporting more cases.
African countries are now moving quickly to tame the rate of infection with several restrictions both for citizens and those visiting.
Some have imposed travel bans , banned public gatherings, closed schools and suspended religious services.
Some of the African countries that have imposed travel restrictions are Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Mozambique.
The World Health Organization said it is “supporting countries with surveillance, diagnostics and treatment.”
There have been 413 reported cases of #COVID19 with 8 fatalities in 30 Africa countries as at 8am, March 17, 2020.#CoronaVirusUpdates pic.twitter.com/IPw4IwAB48
— Oliver Mathenge (@OliverMathenge) March 17, 2020
Meanwhile the first doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine have been given out to volunteers on Monday in the United States.
U.S. researchers gave the first shot to the first person as they attempt to find a vaccine for the pandemic which has brought the world to a standstill.
The doses were administered by scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle.
AP quoted Kaiser Permanente study leader Dr. Lisa Jackson saying “We’re team coronavirus now. Everyone wants to do what they can in this emergency.”
The first volunteer for the experiment is an operations manager at a small tech company.
Three others also followed to take the doses for the test which would involve ultimately give 45 volunteers. Each person is taking two doses, a month apart.
“We all feel so helpless. This is an amazing opportunity for me to do something,” Jennifer Haller, 43, of Seattle, said as she awaited the shot, AP reported.
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Monday’s experiment in the US is part of several global efforts to find a vaccine for the coronavirus.
According to officials there’s no chance participants could get infected from the shots, since they don’t contain the virus itself.
The goal is purely to check that the vaccines show no worrisome side effects, setting the stage for larger tests.
But health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.
Over 180,000 people have been infected by the virus with over 5,000 deaths so far.
Source: Africafeeds.com
