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Democratic Republic of Congo confirms first coronavirus case

Tuesday March 10 2020
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A medical staff member holds samples from patients infected by the Covid-19 coronavirus before nucleic acid test at Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 10, 2020. PHOTO | AFP

By REUTERS

Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa hit by the epidemic to seven.

The patient and others with him have been placed in quarantine, Congolese Health minister Eteni Longondo said on Radio Okapi.

“What I’d like to tell people is not to panic,” he said.

Initial reports indicated the patient was a Belgian citizen who had been in Congo for several days, but the Health minister later confirmed that the patient is a 52-year-old Congolese citizen who had returned from France.

The outbreak has largely spared sub-Saharan Africa so far, but since February a few cases have been registered in Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon, Togo and Burkina Faso. North African countries have registered dozens of cases.

Congo’s first coronavirus case comes as its long-running Ebola epidemic appears to be on the wane. The last patient being treated for Ebola was discharged on March 3 - the first time there have been no active cases since the outbreak was declared in August 2018.

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- Additional reporting by The EastAfrican.

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