Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso both announced on Friday evening that their borders would be closed to fight the coronavirus epidemic. "After assessing the pandemic" and to fight "against the spread of the disease" , "the government has decided to close the land, sea and air borders to all trafficking in persons" , from Sunday at midnight, according to a press release signed by the Ivorian ministers of defense and security. The traffic of goods remains authorized, and "humanitarian corridors as well as security will be opened to face the specific needs of management of the pandemic" , it is specified.
Country of 26 million inhabitants, Côte d'Ivoire, which had already ordered the closure of all schools on Monday and suspended all sporting and cultural events, has 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus (including one cured), according to the last official report published this Friday. Muslim and Christian religious leaders also announced the suspension of worship.
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In Burkina Faso, the country that recorded the first coronavirus death on Wednesday in sub-Saharan Africa, it was President Roch Kaboré who announced in a television statement the closure of land and air borders and the establishment of a curfew starting March 21. "We must do everything (...) to interrupt the community transmission chain of Covid-19," said President Kaboré, while 40 cases of coronavirus have been detected in this landlocked Sahelian country of 20 million inhabitants.
The curfew will be in effect from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., he said. The airports of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso will be closed except for domestic flights, military flights and freight. Stressing the limits of national health structures, and calling for "exceptional and patriotic mobilization" , the president also announced the "immediate suspension" of biometric enrollment operations (capture, storage and processing of biometric data) in preparation for the elections coupled - presidential and legislative - of November 2020 and special operations for the issuance of national Burkinabè identity cards.
On March 14, the Burkinabe authorities had decided to close the schools, after having prohibited demonstrations and public and private rallies three days earlier. Burkina Faso recorded seven new cases on Friday, including three members of the government, the ministers of education, the interior and foreign affairs.