The Djibouti government will soon begin lifting lockdown measures in a bid to relieve pressure on its economy, reported Aljazeera.
Djibouti reportedly has the highest prevalence of coronavirus cases in East Africa. So far, the tiny Horn of Africa nation has recorded 1,189 coronavirus infections and three related deaths.
“By tomorrow, the process of incrementally unlocking the country will start in Djibouti,” Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf informed in a Twitter post on Sunday.
“The stakes are high but there is no other option: people need to make their living and go to work,” he said.
Youssouf added that public transport will resume and places of worship will officially be allowed to reopen, though them people will have to follow “very strict measures of protection” like requiring masks and enforcing physical distancing.
“The borders will remain closed except for humanitarian personnel who will follow an agreed protocol of prevention to avoid reintroducing a new form of the virus,” he said, without giving any other details.
Youssouf said even with those measures in place, there are chances that new epicentres of contamination could emerge in the capital city. He revealed that a national taskforce would continue to follow the spread of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Djibouti has the highest number of cases in Africa relative to its population of around one million people, though its testing capacity is more than many of its neighbors.
The Djibouti government has announced a nationwide lockdown on March 23, closing borders and places of worship, banning public transport, and allowing only workers in essential industries to go outside.
According to an update by Africa CDC, the total number of coronavirus cases in Africa has surpassed 60,000. As per the new figures released on Sunday, some 2,114 people had died due to COVID-19, while 20,792 recovered.
