Senegal, one of the 15 African countries with the highest number of cases of the new coronavirus, is working to halt the growing volume of community cases.
By Ibrahima Dione
It has been a ritual since the virus erupted on March 2 that every morning, a health official reads a press release on the evolution of the epidemic.
In the last few days, the increase in community transmission has been obvious.
During this week, 580 people have contracted Covid-19 without being able to determine the source of their contagion.
That’s an average of 82 infections per day compared to 17 daily contaminations of the same kind during the previous week.
And almost all regions of the country are affected by this increase in community cases, which some attribute to the massive displacement of populations on the eve of the celebration of Aid al-adha, commonly known as Tabaski in West Africa.
However, Minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr warned his compatriots against the risk of spreading the virus in areas that had been spared until now:
“This year’s Tabaski comes in a delicate context that calls for the responsibility of everyone against the spread of the coronavirus.”
His warnings did not have the desired effect as thousands of Senegalese left Dakar, the epicentre of the epidemic, to travel to the interior of the country to spend the festive period with their families.
Two months earlier, it was mission impossible. A state of emergency was in effect and intercity transport was banned.
As a result, many Dakar inhabitants had to make a cross on their return to their native village for the Korité marking the end of Ramadan.
To date, Senegal has officially registered 244 deaths out of 11,740 cases.
Since March 31, when the country suffered its very first coronavirus-related death, in this case the former president of Olympique de Marseille Pape Diouf, many patients have developed serious forms of the disease and died as a result of complications.
During a Presidential Council on the health situation held in recent days, Abdoulaye Bousso, the Director of the Centre for Emergency Health Operations (COUS), informed citizens that the medical staff is facing “a refusal of personalities” who have comorbidity and do not wish to be hospitalized.
“Unfortunately, some of them have lost their lives. This is the consequence of the very late recourse to health structures,” Mamadou Diarra Bèye, the Director of the National Samu added.
President Macky Sall was quick to set a new course and does not rule out the possibility of “resorting to localized states of emergency if this situation is to continue.
In his speech that day, Mame Thierno Dieng, the Director of the Hôpital Principal de Dakar (HPD) explained that “most of the patients have died (in this health structure). We were able to trace them. They became infected during funeral ceremonies, mainly body lifts and burials.”
With the lifting of the main state of emergency measures, in particular the curfew, a slackening in the observance of barrier gestures has been noted throughout Senegal.
In the midst of the heat wave, the beaches are once again crowded, family ceremonies have resumed and overcrowding has returned on public transport, where the wearing of masks is not general.
This irritated the government, which, through the Ministry of the Interior, has tightened preventive measures.
On Tabaski Day, the president addressed some casual young people: “The number of victims has increased significantly. The elderly are the most affected. Therefore, the youth have a decisive role in this. Because they may think that they are completely protected against the disease. This is not proven. They must protect parents and the elderly who are at home. It is absolutely necessary to respect the barrier gestures, especially the correct wearing of the mask which can help to stop the spread of the disease.”
From now on, not wearing a face mask is punishable by a fine.
To play his part, the Governor of the capital, Al Hassan Sall, has endorsed “the closure of bars, discos and other entertainment venues for a period of three months, the suspension of permits to make music, singing and dancing in public houses until further notice.”
In addition, the police are deployed “at the beaches and other public spaces for a rigorous application of the measures prohibiting to gather,” the state official stressed.
On social media, Marie Teuw Niane, a former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, sparked a debate by putting forward the hypothesis of a cancellation of the religious events that are looming.
The commemoration on October 5 of the return from exile of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba, the founder of the Mouride brotherhood, and the birth of the Prophet of Islam, scheduled for October 29, in many religious centres in the country, has raised fears for the worst.
ID/te/lb/as/APA