You are watching Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Host Esther Githui-Ewart and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis.
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urges European countries that are easing their lockdowns because of declining numbers of new cases to “find, isolate, test and treat all cases of COVID-19 and trace every contact, to ensure these declining trends continue.” His comments followed an easing of restrictions in Italy, Spain and Germany. France, one of the hardest-hit nations with more than 23,000 coronavirus deaths, is announcing its plans to begin easing restrictions on Tuesday.
Confirmed global cases of COVID-19 have surpassed three-million, and deaths have exceeded 210,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Throughout Africa, where over 40% of the continent’s nearly 33,000 cases are in the north, according to Reuters.
Morocco, Egypt and Algeria report heavy outbreaks of the disease. In Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari says his country will begin a gradual easing of COVID-19 lock-down restrictions in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states on May fourth.
In Burundi, the race to become the next president is officially underway as authorities proclaim God will protect citizens from the coronavirus, which has infected 15 people in the central African nation and caused one death. The May 20th vote is for a successor to Pierre Nkurunziza.
A54 Health: Health correspondent Linord Moudou shares the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded list symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The CDC says six new symptoms chills, repeated shaking with chills, headache, muscle pain, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell could be signs of infection. The CDC now lists a total of nine confirmed symptoms which include the previous listed as fever, shortness of breath and cough.
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