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Coronavirus Africa news summary: cases and deaths - 1 May

General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) Dolapo Fasawe hold flyers to inform leaders of various unions who are schedule to train fellow members on measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus ahead of the expected

Coronavirus live Africa: latest Covid-19 news on 1 May

Africa

Africa Covid-19 update: 01:00 WAT Saturday 2 May (02:00 CEST)

According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 3,127,126 cases have been detected worldwide, with 238,380 deaths and 939,223 people now recovering.

Nigeria: 2,170 cases / 68 deaths
South Africa: 5,951 cases / 116 deaths
Ghana: 2,074 cases / 17 deaths
Kenya: 411 cases / 21 deaths

The great Tony Allen

 

Nigeria's figures for 1 May - 238 new cases reported

Respects paid to Afrobeat percussionist Tony Allen

Gilles Peterson and Brian Eno were among those who paid tribute to Fela Kuti's former drummer Tony Allen, who passed away in Paris on Thursday.

 

Remdesivir gets FDA approval to treat Covid-19 patients - Trump

Coronavirus

Remdesivir gets FDA approval to treat Covid-19 patients - Trump

Remdesivir gets approval in US

The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorisation for Gilead’s remdesivir drug to treat the coronavirus, the president said on Friday.

The spread in Kenya

From front page to front line

In order to keep us informed, some journalists are putting themselves at risk of contracting Covid-19.

South Africa vs UK Covid-19 outcomes

An interesting look at the seemingly contrasting paths taken by coronavirus in both countries.

Concerns over Cameroon easing

"The actions taken by the government to contain this pandemic are beginning to bear fruits," Ngute said. "Although screening tests reveal new cases of coronavirus-positive patients, the number of people declared healed of this disease in our country has been on the rise. Furthermore, the mortality rate from this virus remains low."

Coronavirus: can Covid-19 be spread through water?

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: can Covid-19 be spread through water?

Covid's water hazard?

Although it has been proven that SARS is transmittable through untreated water, there is currently no evidence that Covid-19 can be considered a waterborne disease.

Cigarette ban easing reversed

South Africa’s ban on tobacco gives cabinet minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma an opportunity to complete a crusade she began more than two decades ago: To stop people smoking.

Full story

Africa two months in

A reflection on how the continent has reacted since the arrival of coronavirus.

Rwanda eases lockdown restrictions

After South Africa announced a partial lifting of one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, the Rwandan government will allow some business to reopen on Monday while easing some regulations concerning hotels and restaurants. 

South Africa also looks to ease lockdown

Zambia Covid-19 latest

Lebron confident season will progress

The playoffs would be under way if the NBA season had not been suspended due to the coronavirus crisis, and LeBron James is adamant they will still take place.

Cameroon to ease lockdown

Cameroon plans to ease restrictions put in place to help curb the spread of the coronavirus as businesses start to reel.

Bars, restaurants and nightclubs will reopen as of 6 p.m. local time on Labor Day, but customers will have to wear face masks and respect social distancing, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute said in a statement.

Rwanda to ease lockdown measures

Rwanda will partially lift its virus lockdown from next week and allow people to move freely during the day more than six weeks after being confined, the prime minister’s office said Friday, AFP reports.

Rwanda was one of the first to impose strict lockdown measures in Africa, on March 22, when it had only 19 cases, and to date has officially recorded 225 cases and zero deaths.

Egyptian bank net foreign assets plunge in March

The foreign assets of Egyptian banks plummeted by 45 percent, or 162.12 billion Egyptian pounds, in March, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) data showed on Thursday, in another sign of how the coronavirus is halting emerging market economies.

The sharp decline, which equates to $10.34 billion, indicates commercial banks were picking up the slack to meet heavy demand for dollars as foreign investors fled the Egyptian treasuries market during the pandemic, economists said.

Foreign investment in Egyptian treasuries stood at between $13.5 billion and $14 billion, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Al Arabiya news channel on April 9. Foreign investors held nearly $20 billion in treasury bills alone as of the end of February, according to CBE data.

The foreign assets of banks dropped to 196.66 billion pounds at the end of March from 358.78 billion at the end of February, the data showed.

Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen dies aged 79

Nigerian drummer and composer Tony Allen, who worked closely with musician Fela Kuti as a pioneer of the Afrobeat genre, died in Paris aged 79, his manager said.

The Afrobeat sound, which rose to prominence in Nigeria in the 1970s, combined organ riffs with West African drum patterns and brass instruments. Allen's drumming was a key part of the rhythmic structure that underpinned the fusion of jazz, funk and West African melodies.

Allen died on Wednesday evening in Paris of a heart attack, National Public Radio (NPR) cited his manager Eric Trosset as saying on Thursday.

#TonyAllenRIP

Friday's front cover of Nigeria's 'The Nation'

Ivory Coast

West African countries on alert for child labor spike due to coronavirus

Ivory Coast and Ghana should be on alert for a spike in child labor due to the coronavirus, experts said, with schools closed and monitors unable to access villages in cocoa harvest season.

The two West African countries together produce about 65% of the world's cocoa and child labor has been a longstanding problem in the sector, despite pledges from chocolate companies including Nestle and Hershey to reduce it.

Fairtrade Africa said it had received reports of possible cases in Ivory Coast's eastern and western regions in recent weeks and flagged them to the government.

"In normal circumstances children are already vulnerable, and now they are not going to school," said Anne-Marie Yao, regional cocoa manager for Fairtrade Africa.

"We don't have access to those villages, we don't know exactly what is happening, and we know that this is the mid-season harvesting period," she told the Thomson ReutersFoundation.

 

IMF approves $411 mln in coronavirus aid for Ethiopia

The International Monetary Fund approved $411 million in emergency assistance for Ethiopia on Thursday to help the east African country with the coronavirus pandemic.

The IMF said in a statement that it also approved Ethiopia's request for a suspension of debt service payments to the Fund, of about $12 million through Oct. 13. The suspension could be extended up to April 13, 2022, subject to the availability of resources in the IMF's Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust for poor countries.

Coronavirus: experts warn second wave could be "more dangerous"

CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus: experts warn second wave could be "more dangerous"

Coronavirus: experts warn second wave could be "more dangerous"

Leading Covid-19 experts in Germany have said it is still too early to relax lockdown protocols, stating that "we are at the beginning of this pandemic."

Covid-19: Anti-coronavirus nasal spray, Neumifil, in works in UK

CORONAVIRUS

Covid-19: Anti-coronavirus nasal spray, Neumifil, in works in UK

Anti-coronavirus nasal spray, Neumifil, in works in UK

The UK-based company Pneumagen says it is developing a drug that could be effective in blocking the coronavirus' pathway into the lungs.

Welcome to our Covid-19 live updates and breaking news live feed from Africa. Today is Friday 1 May and we will bring you news, comment, opinion and statistics throughout the day as things continue to develop during the coronavirus pandemic.