Coronavirus: 2.12% prevalence rate of Coronavirus in Burundi

23 Août 2020

Bujumbura, Burundi, August 23 (Infosplusgabon) - From a total of 21,296 coronavirus tests carried out in Burundi, 426 were positive, for an overall positive rate of 2.12 percent since the first officially declared case at the end of March, a situation report, jointly prepared by the Burundian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Sunday.

In this country of 11.5 million inhabitants, reputed sedentary, the majority of cases (82%, 349/426) are concentrated in the city of Bujumbura and economic capital of Burundi, according to the sources.

With regards to the follow-up of people in contact with the sufferers, 4,078 cases have been tested to date, 181 of which have proved positive.

Almost all (92%) of these contact cases, including from 108 health workers, came from the city of Bujumbura.

The average age of confirmed cases is 37 years. 11.52% of confirmed cases are in the 15-24 age group, with 2.69% aged 15-18 and 8.31% aged 19-24.

The sex ratio is 2.5, or approximately three infected men to one woman.

The sources said that 84 active cases of coronavirus are currently under medical follow-up in Burundi.

Other detailed data in the report show an overall attack rate of the virus of around 3.89 per 100,000 inhabitants in Burundi.

The recovery rate is estimated at 80.05% or 341 of the 426 positive cases.

On the other hand, the death rate or risk of dying from coronavirus is estimated at 0.24%.

Regarding frontline staff in the fight against the pandemic, the report shows that 35 health workers have tested positive to date, representing 8.22% of total cases, with zero deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

The sources said that 19 of the country's 47 districts are affected by the pandemic (40.4%), in 11 of Burundi's 18 provinces (61%).

The first COVID-19 positive cases had been diagnosed in two Burundians returning from travel, one in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), the other in Kigali (Rwanda).

Burundi's newly-elected president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, declared the pandemic "public enemy no. 1," but his predecessor, Pierre Nkurunziza, had assured that the country could not catch the virus "by the grace of God.

A nationwide campaign of "systematic, voluntary and free" coronavirus screening of the population was immediately launched.

However, confinement was never envisaged in a country where the majority of the population lives, on a daily basis, in the informal sector.

Among the current challenges, the report cites, among others, the decentralization of COVID-19 diagnosis centres in all health provinces.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/AGF/GABON2020

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