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Agence France-Presse

More than 20 million Nigerians have gone into lockdown in Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest city Lagos and the capital Abuja, as the continent struggles to curb the spread of coronavirus.
President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a two-week “cessation of all movements” in key cities to ward off an explosion of cases in Africa’s most populous country.
Businesses are being closed, non-food shops shut and people required to stay at home as officials look to track down possible carriers of the disease after reporting 131 confirmed cases and two deaths so far.
Enforcing the restrictions in sprawling Lagos will be a mammoth challenge as millions live crammed into slums and rely on daily earnings to survive.


In the ramshackle outdoor markets of Lagos Island, anxious locals complained they did not have the money to stock up, while at higher-end supermarkets better-off residents queued to buy supplies.
“Two weeks is too long. I don’t know how we will cope,” said student Abdul Rahim, 25, as he helped his sister sell foodstuffs from a stall in Jankarra market.
West African nations hope experience fighting Ebola will help
“People are hungry and they won’t be able to stock food.”
City officials have pledged to provide basic provisions to 200,000 households but the central government in Africa’s largest oil producing nation is already facing financial strain as the price of crude has collapsed.
The streets of Ghana’s capital Accra were also empty as most people in two regions appeared to be following a presidential order to stay indoors after it went into force.

Dozens of African nations have imposed restrictions ranging from night-time curfews to total shutdowns.
Zimbabwe, which is already suffering a recession, began enforcing a three-week lockdown after the disease left one person dead and infected six others.
Police mounted checkpoints on routes leading to Harare’s central business district, stopping cars and turning away pedestrians who had no authorisation to be in the area.
“We don’t want to see people here on the streets. We don’t want to see people who have no business in town just loitering,” a policewoman said through a loud hailer. “Everyone to their homes.”
Some people were trying to head for villages.
“We would rather spend the 21 days at our rural home, where we don’t have to buy everything. I can’t afford to feed my family here when I am not working,” said Most Jawure.
Nigeria reports chloroquine poisonings after Trump touts treatment
“We have been waiting here for more than two hours but there are no buses,” Jawure said while standing with his wife and daughter beside a bulging suitcase.
For many of Zimbabwe’s 16 million people, the lockdown means serious hardship.
With the unemployment rate estimated at around 90 per cent, most Zimbabweans have informal jobs to eke out a living and few have substantial savings.
As a similar scenario played out in other poor nations, the UN on Monday called for a US$2.5-trillion aid package to help developing countries weather the pandemic, including debt cancellation and a health recovery “Marshall Plan”.


Experts warn that Africa is highly vulnerable to Covid-19 given the weak state of health systems across the continent.
The number of infections lags far behind Europe but testing has been limited and the figures are growing rapidly.
Angola and Ivory Coast on Sunday became the latest countries to record their first deaths, bringing the number of African fatalities to around 150 of nearly 4,800 recorded cases.
In Democratic Republic of Congo, two new cases were reported in the volatile South Kivu region and an adviser to the nation’s president announced he had tested positive.
Africa’s coronavirus outbreaks seeded from Europe
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered a 14-day lockdown in a bid to halt the spread of the disease after reporting 33 infections.
Police in South Sudan, one of a few nations in Africa yet to confirm a case, enforced strict new rules, shutting shops selling non-essential items and limiting passengers in public transport.
Mauritius, which has 128 cases – the highest in East Africa – has extended its lockdown to April 15.
In South Africa, many citizens defied calls to stay indoors, with some clashing with security forces at the weekend.

South Africa’s defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Monday denounced alleged intimidation by security forces after videos emerged showing some forcing civilians to squat or roll on the ground for allegedly violating restrictions.
In an interview with local Newzroom Afrika television channel, she said she was aware of two videos “which have circulated where clearly there (is) some abuse”.
“I’m saying I condemn that, we will not allow that to continue,” she said.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: millions enter lockdown in Africa – but is it too late?

A passenger sits in a car wearing a mask, which he said was to prevent him catching the new coronavirus, in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo: AP

General view of a new isolation and treatment centre at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena (formerly Onikan Stadium), erected as an additional measure to handle the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Lagos, Nigeria March 27, 2020. Picture taken March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

A man is questioned by a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) patrol after his corner shop was found open in Eldorado Park on March 30, 2020. - South Africa came under a nationwide lockdown on March 27, 2020, joining other African countries imposing strict curfews and shutdowns in an attempt to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus across the continent. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)

West African nations hope experience fighting Ebola will help curb spread of coronavirus

A health worker prepares to degown in Sierra Leone. Photo: Handout

A United Nations peacekeeper has his shoes cleaned with a chlorine solution before leaving an Ebola treatment centre in Mangina, North Kivu province, on September 1, 2019. - UN chief Antonio Guterres on September 1 vowed continued support for the Democratic Republic of Congo, grappling with the double scourge of militia violence and an Ebola epidemic. (Photo by ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP)

Coronavirus: Nigeria reports chloroquine poisonings after Donald Trump touts antimalarial drug as treatment

People walk inside the Yaba Mainland hospital compound where Covid-19 patients are being treated in Lagos, Nigeria, in February. Photo: AP

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Coronavirus


Experts warn that Africa is highly vulnerable to Covid-19 given the weak state of health systems
Africa’s biggest city Lagos joins roll-call of cities around the globe with eerily empty streets



Experts warn that Africa is highly vulnerable to Covid-19 given the weak state of health systems across the continent.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

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Coronavirus Africa