Unexpected COVID-19 reaches Africa: Africa imports measures

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-in-pictures-this-is-what-social-distancing-looks-like/

It’s a difficult time for us all. Unfortunately, this is like the cold war, Africa is involved again, not willingly, and for it to survive, it has to work night and day to see its population spared. It’s become hard to wake up each day to COVID-19 local, national and international news, scary to the ears, disturbing to the stomach walls, and dangerous to kitchen stores. It’s many of those days you sleep questioning what leaders report in press conferences. It’s become a time when press address, release and breaking news has almost lost meaning for its constant happenings. It’s starting to feel like the end of the world but is it?

In about one month ago, Africans didn’t have a clue of lockdown. Being guided by their past gathering and hunting skills which characterize their present day restless way of life, they didn’t expect to be restricted to move in a few hours leave alone total deprivation of freedom to move for the benefit of protecting their lives. When China went into lockdown, most of us Africans, me and my fellow friends of African descent hoped that we won’t have to face the same dilemma but that has proved to be just a dream. Fortunately, China has won over the monster after almost three months of fighting with strength, resilience, love, unity and patriotism. With the monster spilling over to other countries, Italy, Spain facing it hard, in Africa, South Africa is leading with more than 1000 confirmed cases. When it gets to South Africa, it’s already home.

The current world is characterized by numerous commonalities both positive and negative. With the world working hard to advance interconnectedness, and penetrate the walls of autarky, no nation nor individual is in autarky anymore, everyone and each nation has a commonality with the other and this monster, COVID-19, has proved that theory practical. With South Africa reporting more than a thousand cases, Africa is all infected, those that have confirmed and those that have not yet, we all facing this together and any practice of isolation in fighting this will prove reckless.

A country like Burundi reported its first two cases today April 2^nd though the citizens thought their state of poverty didn’t allow them to face such a monster and so, had not prepared for the attack. Many leaders in Africa have been proactive and others reactive to this monster, as there is no clear path to handling it.

Countries such as Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, among others have imposed total lockdown for some days. Others have imposed partial lockdown. Countries like Kenya, Bukina Faso, Mali, imposed a night curfew. Ghana imposed lockdown in Accra and Kumasi, DRC, a 4 day-lockdown of Kinshasa, and Nigeria in Lagos. Though I won’t dispute nor challenge the governments for taking such initiatives to protect the people they swore to protect, I have my own questions which I've not yet found data to respond to. Countries like Comoros, South Sudan and Lesotho among a few others, have not yet confirmed a case, and I keep asking myself, why?https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001366387/african-countries-with-no-confirmed-cases-of-coronavirus Could it be that these countries took measures to protect their borders when we were busy analyzing, writing and digesting the COVID-19 mysterious appearance and merciless deaths it caused or could it be possible that these countries have not yet secured testing kits or the qualified personnel have not yet been given the directive to carry out and report on these monster? Moreover, what takes me aback is how they continue to escape the monster when most of their borders remained opened until late March, surrounded by countries with exponential growth in the confirmed positive cases. Could they at least be generous enough to share their secret protective weapon with the rest of Africa?