CMR has published Covid-19 : Bulletin n°7 Lundi, le 30 mars 2020. Excerpt from the Google translation, and then a comment:
COVID-19 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SITUATION IN KINSHASA AND ITURI AS AT 30 MARCH 2020
Monday, 30 March 2020
• Since the start of the epidemic declared on March 10, 2020, the cumulative total is 98 confirmed cases. In total, there were 8 deaths.
o 17 new confirmed cases, including:
o 16 in Kinshasa and 1 in North Kivu;
NEWS
The Technical Secretary receives material aid from the NGO Initiative Plus of the DRC for Covid-19
• The Technical Secretary of the Multisectoral Committee to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic in the DRC (CMR Covid-19), Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe Ntamfum, received this Monday, March 30, 2020, at the new building of the National Biomedical Institute (INRB), in Kinshasa, material aid from the President of the NGO Initiative Plus, the former first lady of the DRC, Mrs. Olive Lembe Kabila;
• During her visit, which is part of the surge of national solidarity in the fight against the Coronavirus, Ms. Olive Lembe encouraged the Technical Secretary of the Riposte for the efforts made to shelter the populations of the DRC from this global pandemic;
• The President of the initiative plus, for this purpose, expressed the concern to know if the peasants who live thanks to their rural activities could continue to work during this period of pandemic. On this subject, an affirmative answer was given to him by Prof. Muyembe who insisted on respecting the recommendations issued by the President of the Republic, the health authorities and the health zones;
• "My satisfaction is that these populations can go about their business while observing hygiene measures," she expressed herself;
• As part of the mission of her visit, she brought a lot consisting of chloroquine and some foodstuffs which she gave to Prof. Muyembe who then entrusted it to the president of the response medical care commission for use as a good father;
• “ It is a gesture of national solidarity to support health professionals for the services they provide to populations at the risk of their lives, ” said the president of the plus initiative;
• Mrs. Olive Lembe Kabila also reminded the entire Congolese population of the preventive measures decreed by the health authorities to be respected, in particular coughing in the crease of the elbow and limiting movement or simply confining themselves;
• In his communication of March 30, 2020, Prof. Muyembe announced that the response teams responsible for the alerts are being reorganized. He promised to give, in the next editions, more information on the healed patients of Covid-19 in the DRC;
• He therefore invited the population to continue to comply with the measures recommended by the health authorities and health zones in order to break the chain of transmission. These include, in particular, respecting the distance of a meter or more between people, avoiding all contact and all overcrowding, staying at home, and above all, often washing your hands with water and soap or with an alcoholic solution;
• Finally, he once again thanked the Congolese community, especially that of the affected provinces for their support for the Covid-19 response teams and also encouraged the health workers for their commitment.
Former president Kabila amounts to a silent partner in President Tshisekedi's government, with a number of his people in the cabinet and now his wife getting a chance to shine in the COVID-19 response. Well, Dr. Muyembe is a politically astute health expert, and if the Kabilas are happy, he's more likely to succeed against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, a case in North Kivu means both that province and Ituri—both forming the hot zone of the Ebola outbreak—are once again at risk.
