WATCH | How Africa plans to stay free of the coronavirus

05 February 2020 - 05:45 By TimesLIVE
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The growing number of coronavirus cases and deaths worldwide is of great concern to the global community. More than 20,000 cases have been confirmed to date. Africa is the only continent that has not been affected by the virus — for now.

Speaking at a press conference in Pretoria, Lin Songtian, the Chinese ambassador to SA, confirmed that no cases had been detected or confirmed in the country.

“China has strong capacity and enough resources to manage a public health emergency effectively. South African citizens in Hubei and Wuhan are safe. There is no need to evacuate them from China,” said Lin.

The World Health Organisation's Africa programme manager for emergency response, Dr Michel Yao, sheds light on the situation in Africa and the steps the continent is taking to prepare for the virus.

Yao confirms that some of the treatment centres built around Africa during the Ebola outbreak will be used and adapted to treat coronavirus patients in Africa, should there be a need.


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