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Eight Countries In Africa Have Less Than 100 COVID-19 Cases

Several of these countries have low population density, meaning there are few crowded communities compared to South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria where the virus has spread rapidly.

Eight countries in Africa have recorded less than 100 COVID-19 cases since the first infection on the continent was recorded in Egypt in February.

Several of these countries have low population density, meaning there are few crowded communities compared to South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria where the virus has spread rapidly.

Some however, have conducted fewer tests than they should based on their population and have not treated the ailment as seriously as other countries have.

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Based on data obtained from John Hopkins University and Africa CDC, the countries are Angola; 84, Botswana; 35, Burundi; 63, Eritrea; 39, The Gambia; 25, Namibia; 25, Lesotho; 2, and Seychelles; 11.

The island nation of Seychelles has a population of just about 98,000 persons, making it easier to deal with the virus once it broke out.

The country’s government was however, proactive in curbing the spread of the pandemic, banning cruise ships from sailing into its ports and closing its international air strip.

Citizens have now been allowed to return to work with the government saying bars and restaurants will be allowed to open their doors in June.

In Eritrea, the country’s Minister of Health said on May 16 that the last active case had been discharged after standard testing procedures.

Ethiopia has till date recorded over a 1000 cases of the virus even as the country’s President, Isaias Afwerki, took proactive steps in sealing the country after the ailment was discovered.

Worldometer had no testing data for both countries however.

In Burundi and Angola, both of which have populations over 10 million persons, testing has not been sufficient.

Burundi has lashed out at the World Health Organisation, sending out its representatives in the country prior to its elections last week.

According to recent data, the country has recorded 63 cases from just 284 tests for a country of around 11 million people.

The country has since maintained that it has 42 confirmed cases and one death.

While Angola has not had a public fight with WHO, its testing figures are low.

Worldometer reckons that the second largest oil producer on the continent has done 10,000 tests, for a population of around 32 million people.

In April, the country’s Ministry of Health said it was working to ramp up testing to 400 a day.

Of the countries SaharaReporters found testing figures for, Botswana with 35 confirmed cases of the virus and a population of some 2 million persons, had tested the most samples – 17,991.

Across the continent, there are now 141,599 confirmed cases – about 59,191 of them have recovered.

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PUBLIC HEALTH