Politico | Africa’s coronavirus outbreaks seeded from Europe
- Many African countries reacted quickly to the pandemic, but they have not avoided economic harm
- Despite strong economic links between Africa and China, most cases appear to have been seeded by European travellers or Africans returning from continent
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Simon Marks on politico.eu on March 19, 2020.
Just a few weeks ago, the gaze of African governments and health officials was fixed firmly on China as the likely source of the new coronavirus coming to their countries.
But with cases there now dwindling and Europe having become the new epicentre for the virus, they are no longer looking East, but North.
Despite the strong economic links between Africa and China and the disease originating there, most of the cases in African countries appear to have been seeded by European travellers or Africans returning from that continent.
In Rwanda, one of the latest cases of coronavirus to be confirmed was a Rwandan man who arrived home on March 16 after visiting Belgium.
The first two cases in Burkina Faso were a husband and wife who had returned home after attending a prayer conference in France. And the Cameroonian government on Thursday said that three passengers on board an Air France flight from Paris had tested positive after touching down in Yaounde on Tuesday.