Interview: “We Are In The Control Phase Of The Pandemic”

Two years after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, how far has the country gone in curbing the virus?
For the last two years our country and health system have been challenged by four waves of Covid-19 with latest that dates late December to early January. We have seen a drastic reduction of cases during the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) despite the very high number of tests performed. As per now, we have less than two per cent of all people tested that are positive for Covid-19. Last week we had only one patient admitted in hospital under Oxygen due to Covid-19 across the entire country. We are in the control phase of this pandemic which is the lowest of the three phases of our national resurgence plan before the alert and resurgence phases.

Currently, what is Cameroon focusing on in the fight against Covid-19?
The decrease in case and death does not mean the pandemic is completely over. But rather, it is the time to assess our response during our upcoming Intra Action review and also to assess the impact of the AFCON. The response of Cameroon to Covid-19 has been quite innovative in many ways including its decentralized incident management system, the mass testing relying on rapid tests and also the mental health of patients. Hosting the AFCON has definitely been a huge sanitary challenge.

We need to identify the lessons learnt in order to better prepare other epidemics and pandemics and also to share with other countries that have used different approaches to respond to Covid-19 pandemic.  It is also the right time to adjust the barrier measures to the dynamic of the pandemics while reinforcing our surveillance including the genomic surveillance that will allow us to identify any new variants.

Other countries are uplifting barrier measures against Covid-19. Is Cameroon envisaging doing same anytime soon?
As mentioned earlier, we have three phases in our national resurgence plan. The barrier measures vary according to the control, alert or resurgence phase where they are the most stringent. Therefore, ...