Tanzania, Somalia confirm first coronavirus cases

Tanzania has today March 16, 2020 confirmed its first case of coronavirus.

According to the country’s Ministry of Health, the patient 46-year -old female arrived in Tanzania on March 15 from Belgium aboard Rwandair plane and landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), the thermo scanner did not detect any high temperature.

She left the country on March 3, while there she visited Sweden and Germany before she went back to Belgium and returned to Tanzania on March 15.

The patient went into self isolation but samples tested positive of the Coronavirus, she is now at Mount Meru Hospital. Her situation has been contained, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said.

On the other hand, Somalia has also confirmed its first coronavirus case. The patient arrived in the country from China.

“After quarantine and testing of four Somalis who came from China last week, we certify that one of them proved coronavirus positive. The ministry is working on controlling the disease,” Fawziya Abikar Nur, the heath minister said on Twitter.

The novel coronavirus was first seen in the North African countries in the continent and spread fast to other regions, mostly via infected passengers coming from Europe.

According to Worldometer, a website that compiles new case numbers, the numbers of confirmed cases in African countries are as follows:

Egypt 126, Algeria 48, Tunis 20, Nigeria 2, Senegal 24, Morocco 28, South Africa 61, Cameroon 4, Togo 1, Burkina Faso 7, Democratic Republic of Congo 2, Guinea 1, Ivory Coast 1, Ghana 6, Gabon 1, Kenya 3, Ethiopia 4, Eswatini 1, Sudan 1, Mauritania 1, Equatorial Guinea 1, Rwanda 5, Namibia 2, Congo 1, Seychelles 3,Central African Republic 1, Somalia 1 and Tanzania 1.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to more than 146 countries.

The global death toll is now over 6,500, with more than 164,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the outbreak a pandemic.