Source: CNN
Many African countries are shutting their airports and land borders to keep out people from countries that have a high number of coronavirus cases. Hundreds of international flights have been canceled, schools have closed and travelers from coronavirus-hit countries have been restricted or, in some cases, banned from visiting some countries in Africa. Egypt, with the highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa, announced it was suspending flights from all its airports starting Thursday to stop the spread of the virus, Ahram Online reported.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Egypt is 126, according to the World Health Organization. Schools and universities have been closed in the country for at least two weeks, state media reported. Some countries such as Djibouti are yet to record a single case, but it has suspended all international flights to the country, the US Embassy in Djibouti said in a statement announcing the suspension. There is widespread support on the continent for governments to impose travel bans. One Twitter user noted that Western countries would have acted swiftly to place travel sanctions on travelers if the outbreak originated in Africa.”I hope African countries close up their borders to all these majorly affected countries because we all know the west would ban travel had Coronavirus started in Africa,” they said.
Advice against restrictions
The travel bans and restrictions goes against the advice of the WHO, which has urged countries to not apply blind travel restrictions in a way that would impact trade and travel. WHO Africa’s Dr. Mary Stephen told CNN that many African countries, which were initially screening passengers from countries with outbreaks and also placing travelers from virus-hit countries on quarantine, may now be making travel ban decisions based on panic.
“The outbreak is evolving. It used to be China and now it is Italy and other countries are following after it. So we must be careful because we have seen an increasing number of countries imposing travel restrictions, and that means their perception of risks have changed.
But have they done a risk assessment to their countries or are they just implementing those measures based on their perception?” she said. Stephen, who is with the organization’s emergency team, said African countries need to enhance their capacities to detect early, isolate and track all patients’ contacts and effectively manage the sick to curb the spread of coronavirus.
She added that airport screening and a robust surveillance system were effective ways to detect cases from travelers without symptoms.”WHO continues to advise countries not to impose travel restrictions but countries also have their sovereignty,” she said.
