The Madagascar government on Sunday re-imposed lockdown Antananarivo after the capital reported a new surge in coronavirus infections, two months after the restrictions were eased, reported Africa News.
“The Analamanga region (under which the capital is situated) is returning to full lockdown,” the presidency confirmed in a statement.
According to the statement, movement of people and vehicles in or out of the region will be restricted starting Monday until July 20. A strict curfew will come into effect that will ban of street movement by people.
“Only one person per household is allowed to go out into the street between 6:00 am (0400 GMT) and 12:00 pm (1000 GMT),” said the statement.
The government said the measures have been taken because of the spread of the epidemic and the increase of COVID-19 cases. All government meetings will be conducted via video conferencing, while all court court hearings have been suspended.
In recent days, Madagascar has seen an exponential rise in daily number of cases, jumping to a record 216 cases on Saturday, after a total of 675 people were tested.
Nearly 24,000 tests have so far been conducted in Madagascar. The country had a cumulative of 2,728 cases, including 29 deaths by Sunday, since the virus was first detected on the island on March 20.
Back in April, Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina had launched a local herbal concoction that he claimed had the potential to prevent and cures the novel coronavirus.
Rajoelina has been promoting the herbal medicine for export, saying it is the country’s “green gold” which will “change history”.
Notably, the home-grown coronavirus remedy has attracted a lot of criticism from all across the world as no scientific study has yet validated the potential benefits of COVID-Organics, a tonic derived from Artemisia, a plant with proven efficacy in malaria treatment, and other indigenous herbs.
