Dakar

Some Senegalese mosques opened their doors on Friday after the government eased coronavirus restrictions, but others judged the rate of infection too high and stayed shut.

Senegalese engineering students are throwing themselves at the West African state’s growing coronavirus problem with inventions such as automatic sanitiser dispensers and medical robots.

Senegalese President Macky Sall announced the re-opening of mosques and churches and the easing of other restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus, even as the largest one-day jump in cases was recorded on Monday.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said that there are now 60,657 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in 53 countries across Africa.

According to data obtained from the World Health Organisation, no fewer than 4,012 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ghana.

Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Social Action, on Friday, reported 59 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the confirmed total to 1,551 in the country.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC) has said that the number of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Africa has risen to over 54,027 in the past 24 hours in 53 countries across the continent.

The United Nations on Thursday more than tripled its appeal to help vulnerable countries combat the spread and destabilising effects of the coronavirus pandemic, asking for $6.7bn to help 63 nations, mainly in Africa and Latin America.

Up to 190,000 people in Africa could die of coronavirus in the first year of the pandemic if containment measures fail, the World Health Organisation warned on Thursday.

International Labour Organisation, ILO, has said the COVID-19 lockdown and containment measures across the globe will increase poverty levels among the world’s informal economy workers by 56 percent in low-income countries.

Mr Stephen Karingi, Director, Regional Trade and Integration, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), says African economy will lose 65 billion dollars if there is a full lockdown of the continent due to COVID-19.

African nations are facing a surge of COVID-19 cases with less than one intensive care bed and one ventilator per 100,000 people, a Reuters survey has found.

A recent report analysis by Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) claimed that residents in the United Kingdom (UK) from black heritage are more than four times likely to die from COVID-19 if infected.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says Covid-19 cases have risen to over 51,000 in Africa as at Thursday, May 7.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Africa increased from 46,500 to 49,000 in the past 24 hours.

The Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, has said the collapse of global cooperation and failure of international solidarity have shoved Africa out of the global coronavirus diagnostics market.

Africa must move swiftly to prevent a looming food crunch caused by coronavirus disruption for small-scale producers, the head of a UN agency says.

Africa, the continent that was last to confirm cases of coronavirus now has more than 20,000 cases. As of Tuesday, according to Worldometer, the continent has 24,501 confirmed cases, 1,167 deaths, and 6,531 recoveries.