Hunger 'could double' in East Africa because of virus

The United Nations food agency has warned that the number of people who risk going hungry in East Africa could double in the next three months as a result of coronavirus.

The World Food Programme said 43 million people risk lacking access to food in nine countries. They are Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and South Sudan and Uganda.

It said that, although the number of confirmed cases was relatively low compared with elsewhere in the world, the economic effect of the virus is already being felt.

There have been more than 33,000 confirmed cases on the continent, and nearly 1,500 confirmed deaths.