COVID-19 pandemic in Equatorial Guinea

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Equatorial Guinea on 14 March 2020.[2] Equatorial Guinea has a weak healthcare system, leaving it vulnerable to an outbreak.[3]

COVID-19 pandemic in Equatorial Guinea
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationEquatorial Guinea
First outbreakWuhan, China
Index caseMalabo
Arrival date14 March 2020
(5 months and 4 days)
Confirmed cases4,821 (as of 31 July)[1]
Active cases2,178 (as of 31 July)
Recovered2,182 (as of 31 July)
Deaths
83 (as of 31 July)

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[4][5]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[6][7] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[8][6] Model-based simulations for Equatorial Guinea suggest that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t has been stable above 1.0 since April 2020.[9]

Timeline

March 2020

The country's first case was announced on 14 March, a 42-year-old woman in Malabo, who returned to Equatorial Guinea from Madrid.[2] Two further cases were confirmed on 17 March.[10]

On 22 March, the country declared a state of alarm, which was needed to facilitate the mobilization of economic and material resources needed to stem the spread of coronavirus. A special emergency fund was also created to curb the virus.[11]

As of 24 March, there were nine cases in the country, all imported. There were no confirmed cases of community spread in the country at the time.[12]

By the end of March there had been 14 confirmed cases. All 14 remained active at the end of the month.[13]

April 2020

During April there were 301 new cases, raising the total number of cases to 315. There was one death (20 April).[14] Nine patients recovered, leaving 305 active cases at the end of the month.[15]

May 2020

In May there were 991 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 1306. The death toll rose to 12. There were 1094 active cases at the end of the month.[16] The number of recovered patients rose to 200.[17]

June 2020

On 3 June, the government asked the World Health Organization's representative, Dr Triphonie Nkurunziza, to leave the country, accusing her of having falsified COVID-19 data.[18]

There were 695 new cases in June, raising the total number of cases of 2001. The death toll rose to 32. The number of recovered patients increased by 315 to 515, leaving 1454 active cases at the end of the month.[19]

July 2020

In mid-July it was announced that regular reporting of data on COVID-19 cases would resume, having been halted four times in May, June and July due to concerns over alleged misinterpretations of data.[20][21]

In early July, over 100 Vietnamese workers have contracted the virus while working at the at the Sendje hydropower plant project in Litoral province. On July 30, all 219 Vietnamese workers, 129 of them positive for coronavirus, have been flown home from Bata by a repatriation Vietnam Airlines flight. [22]

There were 2820 new cases in July, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 4821. The death toll rose to 83. The number of recovered patients more than quadrupled to 2182, leaving 2556 active cases at the end of the month (an increase by 76% from the end of June).[23]

Response

The Africa Oil & Investment Forum was postponed.[24]

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons waived fees for service companies in order to alleviate the economic fallout from the pandemic.[25]

See also

References
  1. "Noticias de Guinea Ecuatorial , África y el mundo en AhoraEG". AhoraEG (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  2. "Equatorial Guinea announces first coronavirus case". Deccan Herald. 14 March 2020. Archived from the original on 15 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. Hoff, Madison. "Here are the 24 countries that are least ready for a pandemic". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  4. Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  5. Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  7. "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  9. Future scenarios of the healthcare burden of COVID-19 in low- or middle-income countries, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London.
  10. "Three confirmed cases of coronavirus in Equatorial Guinea". Equatorial Guinea Press and Information Office. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. "Equatorial Guinea declares state of alarm over COVID-19". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  12. AfricaNews (24 March 2020). "Africa – Outbreak Brief #10: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic". Africanews. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  13. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 72" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 April 2020. p. 8. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  14. "Salomón Nguema Owono reports first death due to coronavirus in Equatorial Guinea". Equatorial Guinea Press and Information Office. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  15. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 102" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 May 2020. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  16. "Equatorial Guinea accuses WHO of inflating virus tally". Macau News Agency. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  17. "Outbreak Brief #20: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic". Africa CDC. 2 June 2020. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  18. "WHO Representative for Equatorial Guinea is asked to leave country". World Health Organization. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  19. "Outbreak Brief #24: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic". Africa CDC. 30 June 2020. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  20. "Sanidad pone en marcha el relanzamiento del proceso de publicación de datos de covid-19 en Guinea Ecuatorial" (in Spanish). AhoraEG. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  21. "Press conference on publication of Covid-19 data in Equatorial Guinea". Equatorial Guinea Press and Information Office. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  22. "Vietnam brings 129 Covid-19 patients home from Equatorial Guinea". VnExpress.net. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  23. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 194" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 August 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  24. Qekeleshe, Sihle (6 March 2020). "Equatorial Guinea Postpones Investment Conference". Africa Oil & Power. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  25. "Equatorial Guinea offers Covid-19 relief to service outfits". Upstream Online | Latest oil and gas news. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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