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Africa News of Tuesday, 10 March 2020

Source: bbc.com

DR Congo announces first coronavirus case

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Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country in the capital, Kinsasha.

The patient is a Belgian citizen who has been in the country for several days, Health Minister Eteni Longondo said.

"We are tracking people who came into contact with him so that they too can be placed in quarantine, and tested," Mr Longondo said.

DR Congo has been screening passengers arriving at the main airport in Kinshasa.

The central African nation is now the seventh sub-Saharan country to confirm a case of coronavirus which has killed 3,800 people globally and infected more than 100,000.

Meanwhile, DR Congo is hoping to declare its recent Ebola outbreak over by next month if no new cases are discovered in the next three weeks.