Page 91 - DINQ MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020 EDITION

AFRICAN NEWS UPDATES

Africa coronavirus cases near 1.2 million mark
There is no cure but the polio vaccine protects chil-
African countries are closing in on 1.2 million dren for life.
coronavirus cases mark, according to an update
by Africa Centres for Disease Control and Pre- Nigeria is the last African country to be declared
vention (CDC). free from wild polio, having accounted for more
than half of all global cases less than a decade ago.
The center tweeted that the cases are now at (BBC News)
1,196,710 with the deaths at 28,014 and recov-
eries at 922,833. Stem of ship that caused Mauritius oil spill sinks

South Africa has the most cases at 611,450, fol- The sinking of the stem of the Japanese bulk carrier
lowed by Egypt 97,478, Morocco 53,252, Nige- that caused a huge oil spill off the coast of Mauritius
ria 52,548, Ghana 43,622, Algeria 42,302, Ethi- has been completed.
opia 42,143 and Kenya 32,803.
The operation started on Friday, but was slowed
Southern Africa is the continent’s worst-hit re- down because of rough sea conditions during the
gion of the continent followed by northern Afri- weekend.
ca then the west. East and central Africa have
recorded the least cases. The MV Wakashio's stem is no longer visible on the

Africa CDC has been urging nations to be more
aggressive in dealing with the pandemic, calling
for more testing and contact tracing.

It recently launched an antibody testing drive to
understand the magnitude of the virus infections
in the continent.

BBC News BBC News
Africa declared polio free
sea surface, the National Crisis Committee con-
Africa has been declared free from wild polio by
the independent body, the Africa Regional Cer- firmed to the BBC.
tification Commission.
Pumping operations to remove the remaining diesel
oil in the engine room of the aft have also been com-
Polio usually affects children under five, some-
times leading to irreversible paralysis. Death can pleted.
occur when breathing muscles are affected.
The ship hit a coral reef on 25 July while carrying
Twenty-five years ago thousands of children in 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil.
Africa were paralysed by the virus.
Most of the oil on board was pumped out before the
ship broke apart at the weekend but nearly 1,000
The disease is now only found in Afghanistan
and Pakistan. tones leaked into the sea causing damage to the rich
marine ecosystem.
(BBC News)

DINQ MEGAZINE September 2020 STAY SAFE 91