Mali announced Friday, December 18, the closure of schools, bars, restaurants and certain businesses to counter an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases for several weeks.
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Bars and restaurants will be closed for 14 days from midnight Saturday, and all private and public educational institutions will be closed until January 10, government spokesman Hamadoun Toureh said after a statement. Extraordinary Council of Ministers.
A "
state of health alert
" for six months and a state of emergency for ten days were adopted Friday, added Toureh The state of emergency, in force almost continuously since 2015 in Mali, had been de facto abrogated by the resignation of the government following the coup of August 18, detailed a source close to the government.
As for the state of health alert, it will allow
administrative
“
flexibility
” and the strengthening of health services, the same source added.
The government spokesman announced the “
closure of the shopping streets
”, namely the fairs, but the markets, very popular with Malians who obtain their supplies in large majority from day to day, will remain open.
Gatherings will be limited to fifty people until January 10, he said.
The government had reported Wednesday of a "
continuous increase in the number of cases tested positive and deaths
", a situation considered "
worrying
".
Relatively spared at the start of the pandemic, Mali, a poor West African country facing a security, social and economic crisis, recorded a peak of more than 150 cases per day in early December.
Bamako hospitals are saturated, and the number of tests carried out has risen from some 500 daily workers in March to "
nearly 2,500 today
", according to the government.
Since the start of the pandemic, 6,049 cases have been officially recorded, including 211 fatalities, for a population of around 20 million.