{UAH} CORONAVIRUS ARRIVING IN AFRICA

Africa on alert after Kenya, Ethiopia report suspected coronavirus cases

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South China Morning Post

Reporter

Jevans Nyabiage jevans.nyabiage@scmp.com

·         Student quarantined in Nairobi had arrived from Guangzhou after spending time in Wuhan, where the outbreak started

·         Four more patients were isolated after travelling from China to Addis Ababa

The suspected coronavirus patient in Kenya is being treated in an isolation ward at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. Photo: Handout

Airports across Africa are on high alert after a passenger arriving in Kenya on Tuesday was quarantined with coronavirus symptoms, and four travellers were isolated in Ethiopia " bringing the number of suspected cases on the continent to six.

In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the student had travelled from Guangzhou on a Kenya Airways flight after spending time in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak. The passenger is being treated and tested for the virus in an isolation ward at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Kenya Airways confirmed the incident in a statement, saying health officials at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport had quarantined the passenger "as a precautionary measure".

Meanwhile, four Ethiopian nationals have been placed in quarantine after they arrived at Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport from China. Three of them were students who had been studying at universities near Wuhan, according to Lia Tadesse, state minister of health.

The death toll from the pneumonia-like virus reached 106 on Tuesday, with the total number of confirmed cases now at more than 4,600 worldwide since the outbreak began in December.

Kenya's foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday it was aware of 85 Kenyans stranded in Wuhan and had been in touch with most of them to provide assistance and was "closely monitoring the situation".

It said there could be more Kenyans in the city who had not registered with the embassy in Beijing.

The ministry also said it was liaising with the Chinese embassy in Nairobi to check on Kenyans who were studying in China. "(Those) studying in Hubei have been advised to stay away from Wuhan city until further advised," it said.

Chinese authorities have imposed a lockdown on Wuhan and major cities in Hubei province in a bid to contain the new virus strain that is rapidly spreading beyond China, including to the United States and Europe.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention at the African Union, said Africa was at high risk for the spread of the coronavirus because of the large volume of air traffic between China and the continent.

Africa has become home to millions of Chinese businesspeople and workers since Beijing began an aggressive push into the continent in search of raw materials for its industries and markets for its products. African carriers including Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Algerie, EgyptAir and South African Airways fly to Chinese cities. Chinese carriers including China Southern Airlines and Air China also have routes to some African cities.

The cases in Kenya and Ethiopia come after Ivory Coast reported the first suspected coronavirus patient in Africa over the weekend, isolating a 34-year-old woman arriving in the West African nation from Beijing.

The student, who has been living in Beijing for the last five years, was coughing, sneezing and had breathing problems when she arrived at Felix-Houphouet-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan on Saturday, the country's health ministry said. She was undergoing further tests.

South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia have all issued alerts and increased screening to prevent the spread of the disease.

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Nkengasong said the centre was working closely with the World Health Organisation, partners and donors to coordinate efforts. Based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the centre on Monday received US$5 million in emergency funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help contain the spread of the coronavirus among African Union member states.

"These measures will include technical support to implement the screening and treatment of suspected cases, laboratory confirmation of 2019-nCoV diagnoses and the safe isolation and care of identified cases," the foundation said in a statement.

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