COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon

The COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Cameroon in March 2020.

COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon
Confirmed cases by region as of 2 June 2020.
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Cameroon
First outbreak	Wuhan, China
Index case	Yaoundé
Arrival date	6 March 2020 (5 months, 1 week and 4 days)
Confirmed cases	18,042 (as of 9 August)[1]
Active cases	2,327 (as of 9 August)
Recovered	15,320 (as of 9 August)
Deaths	395 (as of 9 August)
Territories	Bafoussam, Douala & Yaounde
Government website
covid19.minsante.cm

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.[2][3]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[4][5] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[6][4] Model-based simulations for Cameroon indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R _t is stable around 1.[7]

Timeline

Active cases

COVID-19 cases in Cameroon  ()      Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases Feb Feb Mar Mar Apr Apr May May Jun Jun Jul Jul Aug Aug Last 15 days Last 15 days
Date			# of cases	# of deaths
2020-02-24		​	1(n.a.)
⋮		​	1(=)
2020-03-06		​	2(+100%)
⋮		​	2(=)
2020-03-18		​	7(+250%)
2020-03-19		​	7(=)
2020-03-20		​	27(+286%)
2020-03-21		​ ​	40(+48%)
2020-03-22		​ ​	40(=)
2020-03-23		​ ​	56(+40%)
2020-03-24		​ ​	66(+18%)
2020-03-25		​ ​	70(+6.1%)
2020-03-26		​ ​	88(+26%)
2020-03-27		​ ​	92(+4.5%)
2020-03-28		​ ​	113(+23%)
2020-03-29		​ ​ ​	139(+23%)	6(n.a.)
2020-03-30		​ ​ ​	142(+2.2%)	6(=)
2020-03-31		​ ​ ​	193(+36%)	6(=)
2020-04-01		​ ​ ​	233(+21%)	6(=)
2020-04-02		​ ​ ​	284(+22%)	7(+17%)
2020-04-03		​ ​ ​	509(+79%)	8(+14%)
2020-04-04		​ ​ ​	555(+9%)	9(+12%)
2020-05-05		​ ​ ​	555(=)	9(=)
2020-04-06		​ ​ ​	658(+19%)	9(=)
2020-04-07		​ ​ ​	685(+4.1%)	9(=)
2020-04-08		​ ​ ​	730(+6.6%)	10(+11%)
2020-04-09		​ ​ ​	803(+10%)	12(+20%)
2020-04-10		​ ​ ​	820(+2.1%)	12(=)
2020-04-11		​ ​ ​	820(=)	12(=)
2020-04-13		​ ​ ​	848(+3.4%)	12(=)
2020-04-14		​ ​ ​	848(=)	14(+17%)
2020-04-15		​ ​ ​	848(=)	17(+21%)
2020-04-16		​ ​ ​	996(+17%)	22(+29%)
2020-04-17		​ ​ ​	996(=)	22(=)
2020-04-18		​ ​ ​	1,017(+2.1%)	42(+91%)
2020-04-19		​ ​ ​	1,017(=)	42(=)
2020-04-20		​ ​ ​	1,163(+14%)	42(=)
2020-04-21		​ ​ ​	1,163(=)	43(+2.4%)
2020-04-22		​ ​ ​	1,163(=)	43(=)
2020-04-23		​ ​ ​	1,334(+15%)	43(=)
2020-04-24		​ ​ ​	1,430(+7.2%)	43(=)
2020-04-25		​ ​ ​	1,518(+6.2%)	53(+23%)
2020-04-26		​ ​ ​	1,621(+6.8%)	56(+5.7%)
2020-04-27		​ ​ ​	1,705(+5.2%)	58(+3.6%)
2020-04-28		​ ​ ​	1,705(=)	58(=)
2020-04-29		​ ​ ​	1,832(+7.4%)	61(+5.2%)
2020-04-30		​ ​ ​	1,832(=)	61(=)
2020-05-01		​ ​ ​	1,832(=)	61(=)
2020-05-02		​ ​ ​	2,077(+13%)	64(+4.9%)
2020-05-03		​ ​ ​	2,077(=)	64(=)
2020-05-04		​ ​ ​	2,104(+1.3%)	64(=)
2020-05-05		​ ​ ​	2,104(=)	64(=)
2020-05-06		​ ​ ​	2,265(+7.7%)	108(+69%)
2020-05-07		​ ​ ​	2,267(+0.09%)	108(=)
2020-05-08		​ ​ ​	2,267(=)	108(=)
2020-05-09		​ ​ ​	2,274(+0.31%)	108(=)
2020-05-10		​ ​ ​	2,579(+13%)	114(+5.6%)
2020-05-11		​ ​ ​	2,689(+4.3%)	125(+9.6%)
2020-05-12		​ ​ ​	2,689(=)	125(=)
2020-05-13		​ ​ ​	2,800(+4.1%)	136(+8.8%)
2020-05-14		​ ​ ​	2,954(+5.5%)	139(+2.2%)
2020-05-15		​ ​ ​	2,954(=)	139(=)
2020-05-16		​ ​ ​	3,105(+5.1%)	140(+0.72%)
2020-05-17		​ ​ ​	3,105(=)	140(=)
2020-05-18		​ ​ ​	3,529(+14%)	140(=)
2020-05-19		​ ​ ​	3,529(=)	140(=)
2020-05-20		​ ​ ​	3,733(+5.8%)	146(+4.3%)
2020-05-21		​ ​ ​	4,288(+15%)	156(+6.8%)
2020-05-22		​ ​ ​	4,400(+2.6%)	159(+1.9%)
2020-05-23		​ ​ ​	4,400(=)	159(=)
2020-05-24		​ ​ ​	4,890(+11%)	165(+3.8%)
2020-05-25		​ ​ ​	4,890(=)	165(=)
2020-05-26		​ ​ ​	5,436(+11%)	175(+6.1%)
2020-05-27		​ ​ ​	5,436(=)	175(=)
2020-05-28		​ ​ ​	5,436(=)	175(=)
2020-05-29		​ ​ ​	5,436(=)	177(+1.1%)
2020-05-30		​ ​ ​	5,904(+8.6%)	191(+7.9%)
2020-05-31		​ ​ ​	5,904(=)	191(=)
2020-06-01		​ ​ ​	6,397(+8.4%)	199(+4.2%)
2020-06-02		​ ​ ​	6,585(+2.9%)	200(+0.5%)
2020-06-03		​ ​ ​	6,585(=)	200(=)
2020-06-04		​ ​ ​	6,789(+3.1%)	203(+1.5%)
2020-06-05		​ ​ ​	7,392(+8.9%)	205(+0.99%)
2020-06-06		​ ​ ​	7,599(+2.8%)	212(+3.4%)
2020-06-07		​ ​ ​	7,908(+4.1%)	212(=)
2020-06-08		​ ​ ​	8,060(+1.9%)	212(=)
2020-06-09		​ ​ ​	8,312(+3.1%)	212(=)
2020-06-10		​ ​ ​	8,681(+4.4%)	212(=)
⋮		​ ​ ​	8,681(=)	212(=)
2020-06-15		​ ​ ​	9,864(+14%)	276(+30%)
2020-06-16		​ ​ ​	9,864(=)	276(=)
2020-06-17		​ ​ ​	9,864(=)	276(=)
2020-06-18		​ ​ ​	10,638(+7.8%)	282(+2.2%)
2020-06-19		​ ​ ​	11,281(+6%)	300(+6.4%)
2020-06-20		​ ​ ​	11,610(+2.9%)	301(+0.33%)
2020-06-21		​ ​ ​	11,892(+2.4%)	303(+0.66%)
2020-06-22		​ ​ ​	12,041(+1.3%)	308(+1.7%)
2020-06-23		​ ​ ​	12,270(+1.9%)	313(+1.6%)
2020-06-24		​ ​ ​	12,592(+2.6%)	313(=)
⋮		​ ​ ​	12,592(=)	313(=)
2020-07-07		​ ​ ​	14,916(+18%)	359(+15%)
⋮		​ ​ ​	14,916(=)	359(=)
2020-07-11		​ ​ ​	15,173(+1.7%)	359(=)
⋮		​ ​ ​	15,173(=)	359(=)
2020-07-16		​ ​ ​	16,157(+6.5%)	373(+3.9%)
⋮		​ ​ ​	16,157(=)	373(=)
2020-07-21		​ ​ ​	16,522(+2.3%)	382(+2.4%)
⋮		​ ​ ​	16,522(=)	382(=)
2020-07-24		​ ​ ​	16,708(+1.1%)	385(+0.79%)
⋮		​ ​ ​	16,708(=)	385(=)
2020-07-27		​ ​ ​	17,110(+2.4%)	391(+1.6%)
2020-07-28		​ ​ ​	17,179(+0.4%)	391(=)
2020-07-29		​ ​ ​	17,255(+0.44%)	391(=)
⋮		​ ​ ​	17,255(=)	391(=)
2020-08-04		​ ​ ​	17,718(+2.7%)	391(=)
⋮		​ ​ ​	17,718(=)	391(=)
2020-08-08		​ ​ ​	18,042(+1.8%)	395(+1%)
⋮		​ ​ ​	18,042(=)	395(=)
2020-08-11		​ ​ ​	18,213(+0.95%)	398(+0.76%)
2020-08-12		​ ​ ​	18,263(+0.27%)	401(+0.75%)
2020-08-13		​ ​ ​	18,308(+0.25%)	401(=)
2020-08-14		​ ​ ​	18,469(+0.88%)	401(=)
2020-08-15		​ ​ ​	18,469(=)	401(=)
2020-08-16		​ ​ ​	18,469(=)	401(=)
Sources: various news sources and state health department websites. See Timeline Table and Timeline narrative for sources.

March 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Cameroon, Central Africa on 6 March with its first confirmed case.[8] The infected person is a French national who arrived in the capital Yaoundé 24 February.[9][10][11]

The second case in the country was announced on 6 March. The case was a Cameroonian citizen who was in close contact with the first case, but officials did not release any further information on the case.[12]

Five new cases were confirmed on 18 March. Although further information about the victims was not published, one of the confirmed victims is a foreigner.[13]

The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Malachie Manaouda, revealed on 23 March that among the 16 cases tested positive that morning, 9 were from Douala, 6 in Yaoundé, and one in Bafoussam.[14]

On 27 March, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Cameroon reached 91 with the break down per areas as: 63 in Yaounde, 25 in Douala and 3 in Bafoussam.[15][16][17][18]

The total number of COVID-19 cases keep climbing up in the country. On 30 March, the Minister of Public Health announced that Cameroon had 142 active cases with 6 deaths.[19]

April 2020

On 2 April, the number of COVID-19 cases in Cameroon climbed to 286.[20]

On 6 April, the number of confirmed cases rose to 658.[21]

On 7 April, 685 cases were confirmed.[22]

On 10 April, 730 cases were confirmed.[23]

On 25 April, there were 1,513 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the nation.[24]

The number of confirmed cases climbed to 1,832 in April. The number of recovered patients increased to 934, with 837 active cases at the end of the month.[25]

May 2020

On 5 May, Cameroon had 2,104 confirmed cases and 64 deaths.[26]

There were 4,072 new cases in May, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 5,904. The number of recovered patients increased to 3,568. There were 2,145 active cases at the end of the month.[27]

June 2020

During June there were 6,688 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12,592. The number of recovered patients increased to 10,100. There were 2,179 active cases at the end of the month.[28]

July 2020

There were 4,663 new cases in July, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 17,255. The number of recovered patients increased by 5,220 to 15,320. There were 1,544 active cases at the end of the month, a decrease by 29% from the end of June.[29]

August 2020

Deaths

March 2020

The first death occurred on 24 March,[30] the deceased was the famous saxophonist Manu Dibango.[31] By the end of March six persons had died from COVID-19.[32]

April 2020

There were 56 deaths in April, bringing the death toll to 61.[25]

May 2020

There were 130 deaths in May, bringing the death toll to 191.[27]

June 2020

There were 122 reported deaths in June, bringing the reported death toll to 313.[28]

July 2020

There were 78 reported deaths in July, bringing the reported death toll to 391.[29]

August 2020

Medical supply donations

Jack Ma donated medical supplies (20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical-use protective suits and face shields) to Cameroon to assist the efforts to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic in Africa.[33] The supplies arrived to Cameroon's Yaounde Nsimalen Airport on 27 March.[34]

Samuel Eto'o gave 50,000 facial protection masks to taxi drivers in his country.[35]

Government measures

On 18 March, Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute closed its land, air and sea borders.[36]

On 30 March, the Minister of Health announced the imminent launch of a coronavirus test campaign in the city of Douala. Dedicated teams will go door-to-door in the economic capital from April 2 to 6, says the minister.[37]

On 7 April, the Cameroonian government has suspended calls for public generosity in the fight against COVID-19, a move that attracted criticism over political motives.[38]

On 10 April, the government took 7 additional measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Cameroon. These measures take effect from Monday, 13 April 2020.[39]

• Measure 1: Wearing a mask in all areas open to the public;
• Measure 2: Local production of drugs, screening tests, protective masks and hydro-alcoholic gels;
• Measure 3: Establishment of specialized COVID-19 treatment centers in all regional capitals;
• Measure 4: Intensification of the screening campaign with the collaboration of the Center Pasteur;
• Measure 5: Intensification of the awareness campaign in urban and rural areas in both official languages;
• Measure 6: Continuation of activities essential to the economy in strict compliance with the directives of March 17, 2020;
• Measure 7: Sanction

On April 15, following the claims of the Human Rights Commission of the Cameroon Bar Association, President Paul Biya announced the release of certain prisoners in connection with COVID-19.[40]

On Tuesday May 5, the Minister of Health announced the provision to healthcare personnel of 50,000 coveralls, 320,000 surgical masks, 220 backpack sprayers, 10,000 pairs of overshoes.[41]

In late June, the government announced that the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations would be postponed until 2022.[42]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory
• 2020 in Middle Africa

References

1. "MINSANTE-COVID-19". Minsante.cm. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
2. Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
3. Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
4. "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
5. "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.
6. "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
7. 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.
8. Kouagheu, Josiane (6 March 2020). "Cameroon confirms first case of coronavirus". Reuters. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
9. Lukong, Pius; Woussou, Kossi (6 March 2020). "Cameroon, Togo Report First Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
10. "Cameroon confirms first case of coronavirus". National Post. Reuters. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
11. "Cameroon Confirms First Case of Coronavirus". The New York Times. Reuters. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
12. Ndi, Ndi Eugene (6 March 2020). "Cameroon confirms second case of coronavirus". The East African. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
13. "Coronavirus: Cameroon confirms 5 new cases". Business in Cameroon. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
14. "Cameroon: Coronavirus cases rise to 56". Journal du Cameroun.com. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
15. "Coronavirus : le Cameroun compte désormais 91 cas confirmés". actucameroun.com (in French). 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
16. "Cameroon: COVID-19 cases hit 88". Journal du Cameroun.com. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
17. "Cameroon: Coronavirus cases climb to 66". Journal du Cameroun.com. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
18. "Panic as confirmed coronavirus cases in Cameroon hit 70". mimimefoinfos.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
19. "Cameroon's Coronavirus cases move up to 142". Journal du Cameroun.com. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
20. "Cameroon's COVID-19 cases climb up to 193". Journal du Cameroun.com.
21. "COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic". Worldometer. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
    
22. "Cameroonians are worried about coronavirus but also about an absent president". Quartz Africa. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
23. "Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 81" (PDF). WHO. 10 April 2020.
24. "Coronavirus: Which countries have confirmed cases?". AlJazeera. 25 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
25. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 102" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 May 2020. p. 5. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
26. "Au Cameroun, sur la piste du coronavirus dans les quartiers de Douala". Le Monde.fr (in French). 5 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
27. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 133" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 June 2020. p. 6. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
28. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 163" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 July 2020. p. 6. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
29. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 194" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 August 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
30. "Cameroon confirms 1st death from COVID-19". www.aa.com.tr.
31. "Décès du saxophoniste Manu Dibango". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 10 April 2020.
32. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 72" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 April 2020. p. 8. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
33. "China's richest man sends medical supplies to Cameroon". www.aa.com.tr.
34. Foguem, Ariane (27 March 2020). "Cameroon receives Chinese Billlionaire Jack Ma's aid to fight COVID-19". Journal du Cameroun. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
35. Enow, Par Njie (17 April 2020). "Coronavirus : Mouna Dreams a non profit founded by a Cameroonian Liliane Bisseck gave 500 face masks to children in the villages. Eto'o prévoit d'aider 100 000 personnes au Cameroun". BBC News Afrique (in French). Retrieved 18 April 2020.
36. "Coronavirus : le Cameroun ferme ses frontières". TV5MONDE (in French). 18 March 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
37. "Coronavirus: au Cameroun, le silence de Paul Biya, face à l'épidémie, fait parler". RFI (in French). 31 March 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
38. "Coronavirus au Cameroun : les opérations de solidarité dans le viseur du gouvernement – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
39. CRTVweb [@CRTV_web] (9 April 2020). "7 mesures supplémentaires contre la propagation du #Covid19 au #Cameroun Mesure 1 : port du masque obligatoire" (Tweet) (in French). Retrieved 10 April 2020 – via Twitter.
40. "Coronavirus au Cameroun : Paul Biya annonce la libération de certains prisonniers – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 16 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
41. "Au Cameroun, sur la piste du coronavirus dans les quartiers de Douala". Le Monde.fr (in French). 5 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
42. Kindzeka, Moki E. (1 July 2020). "Cameroon Plans to Improve Infrastructure as AFCON Is Postponed to 2022". Voice of America. Retrieved 2 July 2020.

External links

• Cameroon: Caught between conflict and coronavirus in Cameroon
• Cameroon: Child Marriage Worries Rise Amid Coronavirus Lockdown in Cameroon