The corona virus is rampant worldwide. That is why there are now curfews in Africa. But when they are enforced, excessive violence occurs more and more.
- The coronavirus pandemic * has grown worldwide.
- While Covid-19 initially only appeared in China, the lung disease has now spread across the globe.
- As a result, there was a terrible incident in Africa .
Update April 4, 2020:
Spreading the corona virus in Africa would have devastating consequences, according to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. "The pandemic could get out of control very quickly there," said the Spaniard on Friday after consulting the EU foreign ministers. The health system in Africa is not comparable to that in Europe. In Africa, for example, there is only one doctor for every ten thousand inhabitants, while there are 37 doctors in Europe.
"We have to help Africa in our own interest." The problem would not be solved if it was only solved in Europe. Then there could be a setback. The development ministers of the EU member states want to advise on possible aid next Wednesday.
German development minister Gerd Müller fears that the corona pandemic in Africa will lead to new violence and new refugee movements. "The situation is dramatic because the virus is now arriving in developing and emerging countries with a delay of two months," said the CSU politician at Augsburger Allgemeine . "I am very concerned that there will be unrest in fragile states, including civil wars," he emphasized.
The economic turmoil of the crisis hit Africa with full force: "Millions of people have already lost their jobs in developing countries, have no security and no income," said Müller. "There is already unrest. Terrorist groups are targeting attacks aimed at overthrowing governments, ”he said. “Chaos to civil war and waves of refugees would be the result. All of this affects us too. ”That is why the international community must do everything to prevent the collapse of individual states.
Corona crisis in Africa: Caritas warns of Covid 19 consequences
Update of April 3, 2020: The Catholic aid organization Caritas International has warned of the spread of the corona virus in Africa . Caritas general secretary Aloysius John said on Friday at an Internet press conference that Covid-19 could have even more devastating effects in the poor countries of the African continent than in the Western countries, which have been badly affected to date.
Ebola outbreaks in Africa have learned that it is particularly important to inform people in remote regions about precautionary measures, a spokeswoman said. Caritas is also concerned that refugees in many regions of the world may be severely affected by the virus, John said. That is why his organization, like the Pope, is calling for a worldwide ceasefire. In addition, sanctions against countries such as Syria, Lebanon or Iran should be lifted due to the health crisis, he said.
Update of April 2, 2020: In Africa , brutal attacks by the police and the army in the implementation of restrictions in the fight against the corona virus are increasingly causing complaints from human rights organizations . "The security forces have used excessive force, including beatings, gunfire, and arbitrary detention of people across the country," criticized Human Rights Watch, a human rights group in Uganda on Thursday.
Corona crisis in Africa: security institute criticizes police action
A government spokesman, however, dismissed the allegations and emphasized that they were isolated isolated cases . In South Africa , reports of attacks by security forces are also increasing. The local institute for security issues (ISS) criticized on Thursday with reference to officially still unconfirmed media reports: "Just five days after the curfew was imposed , the police reportedly killed three people ."
The institute further warned that the risks of continued illegitimate state violence for South Africa's future could be greater than the risks associated with the pandemic. John Steenhuisen of the opposition Democratic Alliance called the attacks "unacceptable and worrying" .
Update of April 1, 2020: While the parliamentary elections were held in Mali despite the corona pandemic *, another country decided to postpone the elections. In Ethiopia , the parliament should be re-elected on August 29. Now the elections have been postponed to a later date.
Corona infections in Africa are increasing: Ethiopia postpones parliamentary elections
The electoral commission cited the spread of the lung disease Covid-19 * and the interrupted preparations as reasons. A new date has not yet been set, the Commission said on Tuesday. An opposition group ONLF, which declared that saving human lives was more important than occupying political offices, also supported the decision.
Ethiopia Postpones Elections Scheduled for August Due to COVID-19 https://t.co/0sATJ8c9ow #Ethiopia # Covid19 #StayAtHome #CovidInAfrica #Lockdown pic.twitter.com/5HGtdXE9Ws
- allAfrica.com (@allafrica) April 1, 2020The parliament that votes on the Prime Minister is elected by citizens in Ethiopia. The vote is considered an important test for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed . Since taking office in April 2018, the young politician has initiated several reforms and made peace with neighboring Eritrea. For this he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. However, the security situation in the country has deteriorated under Abiy.
Corona infections in Africa rise: 13-year-old shot dead by the police during curfew control
Update from March 31: Africa has also registered the first infections with the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 in the past few weeks . A terrible incident has now occurred while enforcing a night-time curfew to contain the coronavirus in Kenya. A 13-year-old boy was shot by the police .
As the Kenyan daily "Daily Nation" reported on Tuesday, police officers shot live in a slum in the capital Nairobi on Monday evening to disperse passersby. The boy was hit in the abdomen by a bullet. The newspaper relies on eyewitnesses.
The curfew has been in force since last Friday in connection with the fight against the corona virus. The boy's parents told the newspaper that the student was playing on the balcony when the bullet hit him. He died later in hospital. Kenyan police chief Hillary Mutyambai ordered an investigation.
The violent measures taken by the Kenyan police to enforce the curfew had previously provoked criticism. On Friday, police officers in the port city of Mombasa beat pedestrians with sticks and whips and also used tear gas.
Corona infections in Africa are increasing: many countries are taking drastic measures
Update of March 29: Already after the announcement of relatively small numbers of cases, numerous African countries have taken drastic measures - schools in Namibia were closed nationwide immediately after the first case occurred, Kenya and Nigeria rely on entry stops and the ban on meetings, as Deutschlandfunk reports . The continent could benefit from the fact that there is extensive experience in connection with the Ebola epidemic and that the population is more aware of the risk of infection. So information is now spreading quickly via social media. Statistics currently tops the map of the John Hopkins University of South Africa with 1187 people who tested positive and one death.
Update from March 20: In South Africa , the number of detected coronavirus infections has increased significantly. Health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Friday that she had increased 52 new cases to 202 within a day. South Africa is the most severely affected country in sub-Saharan Africa.
The pathogen would continue to spread and "stay with us for quite a while," warned the minister. "We have to face this reality." However, this does not mean that an apocalypse is imminent. The number of infected people should not increase too quickly so that the health system is not overwhelmed, he warned.
Coronavirus in Africa: WHO chief with drastic warning: "Prepare for the worst"
First message from March 19: Lagos - The corona virus has spread all over the planet *. As of this week, the epicenter of the pandemic is no longer China, but Italy . The country reported more deaths than the People's Republic for the first time on Thursday. An end to the crisis does not appear to be in sight.
Italy has missed countermeasures in time for viral containment, now it is feeling the effects of Covid-19 immediately. With regard to the conditions in the EU country, there has been increasing talk of so-called Italian conditions in the past. Specifically, other countries such as Germany face a similar exceptional situation if there is no response in time.
Because in many countries it has been seen that the spread of the virus accelerates rapidly from a “certain turning point”, explains Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Director General of the World Health Organization .
In order to further contain the virus and save human lives, the WHO chief appealed to Africa , which was not so badly affected by Covid-19 , where one should “wake up”. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus himself comes from Africa, was born in today's Eritrea . He insists: "The best advice for Africa is to prepare for the worst and start today."
Corona virus in Africa: experts fear catastrophe across the continent
Across the entire African continent, “only” 712 cases of corona infection have been confirmed (as of March 18). For comparison, in Italy alone there are more than 40,000 (as of March 19). It is unclear whether the virus spreads more slowly in Africa than in other parts of the world or has so far only been rarely detected.
There are currently some indications of the second. Experts fear an extremely high number of unreported cases and also warn that crowded African cities could develop into a dangerous focus for the corona virus. Due to the often poorly equipped health systems, they fear a possible disaster from the pandemic in Africa.
Corona virus in Africa: Nigeria closes schools - South Africa plans protective fence
After all, Africa seems to take the WHO chief's appeal seriously. Schools in Nigeria's metropolis of Lagos, for example, have been closed since this week, and events involving more than 50 people are prohibited. South Africa announced as containment measures the erection of a 40-kilometer border fence to the neighboring country Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone imposed travel restrictions.
Governments on the continent seem to be increasingly concerned with Coronavius - given the WHO chief's drastic words, they should .
as with information from AFP
Rubric list picture: © picture alliance / dpa / Farah Abdi Warsameh