And it arrived!

And it arrived!

Gradually (yeke yeke, as the saying in Sango goes) the coronavirus, which arrived in Central Africa in March, is growing.

In the beginning, the few cases we had were due to people who arrived from Europe. Then, unfortunately, the first "local" patients appeared: local transmission from person to person. The airport in Bangui has been closed, but unfortunately the borders with Cameroon, even though officially closed, in reality are not. The travel between the two countries has ignited the transmission, with Cameroon having now has almost 2,000 positive cases.  Today the first cases outside Bangui, in Bouar, 110k from Bozoum have been confirmed!

To date, there are 64 cases. Few, compared to the numbers in Europe, but many for a country with such a fragile healthcare system.

During the week I was in Bouar.  Wednesday morning I went to our Yolé seminar.  The Indian nuns have a dispensary snd together we saw how to treat the sick, without taking risks with the patients or the staff.

In Bouar I also met with the heads of the Diocesan Health Commission, with whom we have prepared a program of support for materials and medicines, which we just sent to Caritas Italia. The CEI has allocated aid for the Covid-19 emergency in Africa, and we hope to be able to help many people in our hospitals.

Here in Bozoum, for now, it's all quiet. Maybe too quiet.

The issue of the virus is not taken very seriously, and markets, businesses and travel continues without any repercussions at the moment.

The past few days the Chinese companies have moved part of their gold mining machinery to other sites. In theory they would have to restore the river bed as it was before they arrived. In reality, after destroying the river, they leave everything in shambles, with mountains of gravel and holes full of water. Unfortunately in the past 10 days seven people have drowned!

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