Senators Schooled On Coronavirus

With the number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon at 66 as at March 24, 2020, health officials from the Ministry of Public Health have been sensitising Senators on the actual state of the virus in the country.  The objective of the March 23, 2020 educative meeting with Senators is for them to in turn educate the population they represent for the virus to be managed from spreading. Preventive methods, mode of transmission, clinical symptoms and incubation period are aspects of the virus the Senators were educated on by the Director of Health Promotion at the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Fanne Mahamat. Deliberations were moderated by the eldest member of the Senate, Isabelle Tokpanou. 
In her preliminary presentation, she said the virus is transmitted from human to human and or from animals to humans through air droplets and surfaces. The symptoms, she highlighted range from common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). While recommending personal hygiene, Dr. Fanne Mahamat advised citizens to avoid overcrowding and give precedence to airy environments. “Use alcoholic based solution to disinfect hands and maintain the distance of one meter when in physical contact when humans,” she advised, insisting prevention is the best way out of the virus given that no cure has been discovered yet. 
Going by scientific analysis projected by her, should personal hygiene and the prescriptions of the Prime Minister be ignored, Cameroon risks recording an alarming increase in the spread of the virus. “If this is not respected, there is a high probability by next week, affected cases could scale up to 150 persons, 375 in two weeks, 938 in three weeks and between 2,300 to 2,500 in a month,” she warne...