Emerged from Wuhan, China, coronavirus has spread to the entire world, affecting millions of people and killing hundreds out of them. From the small islands to war ragged countries like Yemen and even in the completely isolated countries like North Korea, it has been reported everywhere. But some of the African countries claim that they are still free from coronavirus which is surprising news. Right now, six out of 54 countries in Africa are spared from the coronavirus pandemic. Here is a brief description of these countries.
South Sudan
It is located on the eastern side of Africa. The civil war in Sudan ended only a few years ago and it is currently under extreme hunger, poverty, and lack of infrastructure making it a risky area for coronavirus. But surprisingly there is not a single coronavirus positive case reported from South Sudan.
Dr. Angok Gordon Kuol is a medical expert who is currently looking over the coronavirus spread and he has tested 12 suspected cases but none of them came positive. According to him, this no coronavirus case is due to the fewer travelers to this country. He said; “Very few airlines come to South Sudan and most of the countries affected today they are affected by… people coming from abroad.”
Nearly 500 people have been tested for coronavirus suspicion and there is one isolation unit here with a 24-bed capacity. However, South Sudan is currently under lockdown, by closing schools’ public gatherings and all public events. It has also blocked flights from countries that are most affected by this deadly virus.
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Malawi
Joshua Malango, the spokesperson from the Health Ministry has shared his concern that the country might not be able to report any coronavirus positive case as it has limited test kits. The government is trying to fix this problem but it is too early to say if there are any positive cases reported in the country or not. So far, the government has requested all citizens to stay at their homes in a self-quarantine to control the spread of coronavirus.
Comoros
Comoros is a small country between Madagascar and Mozambique and so far it has not detected any coronavirus positive case.
Burundi
There are no corona positive cases in Burundi and the locals are thanking the divine force for that. The official spokesperson of the Burundi government, Mr. Prosper Ntahorwamiye said in one of his interviews on national television that; “The government thanks all-powerful God who has protected Burundi.”
He also discussed that many people are spreading rumors that probably the government is not capable of testing the suspects for this virus which are not true. It has taken up certain preventive measures such as blocking the entry of international flights, placing hand sanitizers and hand washers at all public places. However, medical experts believe that there are no positive cases because there are no tests being conducted.
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Lesotho
Lesotho is a small country near South Africa which has a population of only two million people. It is has gone under a lockdown despite having zero coronavirus positive cases. The country has received its testing kits by donation of a Chinese businessman, last week. There are eight suspected cases but none of them has been confirmed yet.
Sao Tome and Principe
Sao Tome and Principe is a small network of islands with dense rainforests and zero coronavirus cases. But its because it is unable to test any suspected person, says Anne Ancia, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
She says that WHO is preparing to test the suspects and there are nearly 100 people in quarantine, all of which have returned from abroad, typically the high affected area. This country is a dire need for prevention plans and strategies as if it is infected, the tourism industry would be shattered which makes up for most of its economy.