Cameroon, Vatican record first Coronavirus cases

 

Cameroon health ministry on Friday confirmed the country’s first case of coronavirus, a 58-year-old French citizen who arrived in the capital Yaounde on Feb. 24.

Also, the Vatican Friday said it had suspended outpatient services at its health clinic after a patient tested positive for COVID-19.

Cameroon, which is situated in Central Africa, is the fourth sub-Saharan country to report coronavirus after Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

It said the man has been quarantined in the city’s Central Hospital. “All measures have been taken by the government to contain potential risks of the virus spreading,’’ it said in a statement.

The total number of cases on the African continent is 29.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told AFP that the clinic inside the tiny city-state – which has some 1,000 residents – will be deep cleaned, while the emergency room will remain open.

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The patient tested positive on Thursday.

The clinic is used by priests, residents and employees — including those now retired — as well as their relatives.

Bruni said the Vatican was getting in touch with all those who had passed through the clinic, as per protocol.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, it has infected almost 100,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,000, mostly in China.