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Cameroon confirms first coronavirus case

Friday March 06 2020
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A man wearing a face mask has his temperature measured in a mall in the financial district of Lujiazui in Shanghai on March 4, 2020. PHOTO | HECTOR RETAMAL | AFP

By NDI EUGENE NDI

Cameroon on Friday confirmed its first case of the Covid-19 coronavirus case, after a 58-year-old French national who had arrived in the capital, Yaounde on February 24, tested positive.

It is also the first known case in the Central African sub-region and the latest in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

Dr Manaouda Malachie, the country’s minister for public health, in a statement, said the patient had been placed in solitary confinement in the care centre of the Yaounde Central Hospital for appropriate treatment.

“Active surveillance measures put in place by the country since the occurrence of the Covid-19 has made it possible to detect this case,” the minister’s statement said adding “all measures are being taken by the government to contain the possible risks of the spread of the virus.”

The statement said the minister will grant a press conference “as soon as possible” to shed light on the case.

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