First Coronavirus Cases Reported in Countries Across Africa

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A worker in a protective suit sprays disinfectants near Al-Abbas shrine as a precaution against the outbreak of coronavirus, in the holy city of Karbala, Iraq, on March 15.

African nations from Rwanda to Mauritania have reported their first cases of coronavirus, demonstrating the spread of the pandemic is accelerating across the world’s second-most populated continent.
The sub-Saharan region has lagged behind rising numbers globally, as health-care systems brace for the virus to emerge. To date, of the more than 140,000 cases globally, only a few dozen had been confirmed in Africa. Infections now appear to be expanding geographically, with many of the new infections being found in people recently arrived from Europe, the epicenter of the outbreak outside of China.
Mauritania, in the northwest of the region, reported its first case of Covid-19 on Friday -- an expatriate who traveled from Europe on March 9, according to the Ministry of Health. In southern Africa, Namibia reported that a couple visiting from Spain tested positive, its first cases. In central Africa, Rwanda’s health ministry confirmed the country’s first infections.
© Reuters A health worker dressed in protective suit prepares to disinfect the residence where Kenya's first confirmed coronavirus patient was staying, in the town of Rongai near Nairobi, Kenya March 14, 2020. REUTERS/Baz Ratner 

  The landlocked country of eSwatini, which shares borders with South Africa and Mozambique, reported its first case of the virus, the South African Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi. The 33-year-old woman, who returned from the U.S. at the end of February and then traveled to Lesotho before returning home to Eswatini, is in isolation, SABC said, citing Nkosi.
Officials are concerned that the rapid spread of the virus could overwhelm the region’s struggling health-care system. Africa accounts for 16% of the global population but just 1% of health-care spending. There’s little money for ventilators and other life-support equipment needed for severe cases of Covid-19, and any sustained fight against the coronavirus would steer resources away from malaria and HIV, which kill hundreds of thousands every year.
Apart from the new countries, other nations have shown an uptick in cases. Cameroon announced its third of COVID-19, a citizen living in Italy who passed through Paris and arrived in the country on March 07, Manaouda Malache, Minister of Public Health said in a statement posted on his twitter account.