Thousands of African students live in Wuhan, the center of China's coronavirus outbreak. Amid a mass quarantine, many have found themselves stranded, with little hope for evacuation.
Ethiopian authorities quarantined four students in the capital, Addis Ababa, on TuesdayImage: Getty Images/M. Tewelde
For the nearly 5,000 Africans studying in the city, the situation is particularly stressful. Many fear they will not be able to leave China anytime soon.
South African students, for instance, were told by their embassy in Beijing that they should follow their Chinese universities' instructions. Leaving the city or even the country without permission could have "far-reaching consequences."
"It's like I'm locked up in a cell," Hilal Kizwi, a Tanzanian student at Tongji Medical College in Wuhan, told the Associated Press news agency. The Tanzanian embassy assured him and fellow students that it was working on an evacuation, Kizwi said. "But I don't expect it."
He and a group of other Tanzanian doctors in Wuhan have founded a help group for African students, using social media to publish health tips and updates on the situation in the city — in Swahili. They hope to reassure the other students, who are just as trapped. "Together we are one family," the students tweeted.
DW, meanwhile, has received unconfirmed reports that food supplies for some African students in Wuhan are no longer guaranteed. According to the reports, some African embassies are trying to provide their citizens with basic necessities in the quarantined province of Hubei, where Wuhan is situated.
The situation in Africa is also tense. Official reports of the first suspected case of the mysterious 2019-nCoV coronavirus on the continent emerged on Sunday. The Ivory Coast Ministry of Health reported that a student returning from China might be infected with the virus. In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, authorities quarantined four students Tuesday — two had previously arrived from Wuhan with flu-like symptoms. A suspicious case was also reported in Kenya on Tuesday.
Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19
Since the first cases were confirmed in December 2019, the flu-like COVID-19 virus exploded into a global pandemic, killing tens of thousands of people and infecting around 800,000. Scientists scramble for a vaccine.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/SOPA Images/A. Marzo
Pneumonia-like virus hits Wuhan
On December 31, 2019, China notifies the World Health Organization of a string of respiratory infections in the city of Wuhan, home to some 11 million people. The root virus is unknown and disease experts around the world begin working to identify it. The strain is traced to a seafood market in the city, which is quickly shut down. Some 40 people are initially reported to be infected.
Image: Imago Images/UPI Photo/S. Shaver
First death in China
On January 11, China announces the first death from the coronavirus — a 61-year-old man, who had shopped at the Wuhan market, dies from complications with pneumonia. Like SARS and the common cold, scientists identified that the new virus is in the coronavirus family. It is temporarily named 2019-nCoV. Symptoms include fever, coughing, difficulty breathing, and pneumonia.
Image: Reuters/Str
Virus reaches neighboring countries
In the following days, countries such as Thailand and Japan begin to report cases of infections in people who had visited the same Wuhan market. In China, a second fatality is confirmed in the city. By January 20, three people have died in China and more than 200 are infected.
Image: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Millions under lockdown
China places Wuhan on quarantine on January 23 in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus. Transportation is suspended and workers attempt to quickly build a new hospital to treat infected patients, which total over 830 by January 24, as the death toll climbs to 26. Officials eventually extend the lockdown to 13 other cities, affecting at least 36 million people.
Image: AFP/STR
A global health emergency?
More and more cases are confirmed outside of China, including in South Korea, the US, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. As the number of infections rises, the World Health Organization on January 23 determines that it's "too early" to declare a global public health emergency.
Image: Getty Images/X. Chu
Coronavirus reaches Europe
On January 24, French authorities confirm three cases of the new coronavirus within its borders, marking the disease's first appearance in Europe. Hours later, Australia confirms four people have been infected with the respiratory virus.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Mortagne
First cases confirmed in Germany
On January 27, Germany announces its first known case of the virus — a 33-year-old in Bavaria who contracted it during a workplace training with a visiting Chinese colleague. He is put under quarantine and observation at a Munich hospital. The following day, three of his colleagues are confirmed infected. The death toll in China reaches 132, with around 6,000 infected worldwide.
Image: Reuters/A. Uyanik
WHO declares global health emergency
On January 30, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) declares coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern in a bid to protect countries with "weaker health systems." However, WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus does not recommend trade and travel restrictions, saying these would be "an unnecessary disruption."
Image: picture-alliance/KEYSTONE/J.-C. Bott
First death outside China
The first death linked to the novel coronavirus outside of China is reported in the Philippines on February 2. A 44-year-old Chinese man had traveled from Wuhan to Manila before falling ill and being taken to hospital, where he later died of pneumonia.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Aljibe
Bad ending to a cruise
Also on February 3, the cruise ship Diamond Princess is quarantined off Yokohama in Japan after cases of the new coronavirus were found on board. As of February 17, the number of people infected has grown to more than 450, the largest cluster of cases outside of China. Several of the 3,700 passengers and crew onboard the ship are being or have been flown back to their home countries.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/kyodo
Italy under quarantine
Cases in Italy rise dramatically, with 77 deaths and thousands of confirmed cases by March 3. Many countries instigate travel restrictions to northern Italy and tourist numbers plummet. On March 8, the Italian government put the entire Lombardy region into quarantine, affecting 16 million people. March 10 sees 168 fatalities in Italy, the highest in a single day.
Image: Reuters/R. Casilli
Economic woes
European and US stock markets slump on March 6, leading to the worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The effect on global business has been significant, with many companies reporting losses and the tourism industry and airlines badly hit. The EU pledge €7.5 billion ($8.4 billion) on March 10 in an investment fund to try to stop the Eurozone falling into a recession.
Image: picture-alliance/Jiji Press/M. Taguchi
WHO declares outbreak as pandemic
As worldwide cases top 127,000 and deaths pass 4,700, the World Health Organization designates the global outbreak as a "pandemic" on March 11. US President Donald Trump announces a travel restriction on people coming from the Schengen Zone in Europe, annoying the EU. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces that in Germany, 70% of the population could get the virus.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Public life on hold in Europe
On March 14, Spain joins Italy in imposing a near-total nationwide lockdown to prevent the virus spreading. The population of 46 million is told not to leave their homes unless for essential tasks. In France, cafés, restaurants and non-essential shops are closed as of March 15. Many public events in Germany are cancelled and schools close.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AAB. Akbulut
International travel severely restricted
As of March 15, many countries impose strict travel bans or restrictions in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19. For example, New Zealand and Australia require all international passengers to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival in the country. The US extends a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Germany imposes partial lockdown
In a landmark televised address German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces far-reaching restrictions on everyday life on March 22, banning meetings between more than two people not from the same household outside of the workplace. The country has a surprisingly low death rate, a phenomenon attributed to a high level of testing, and a high number of intensive care beds.
Image: picture-alliance/EibnerT. Hahn
Virus strikes at top as UK locks down
On March 23rd Britain becomes the latest country to impose restrictions on personal freedoms, with people only allowed to leave their homes in a limited number of circumstances. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is diagnosed with the viruson March 27, as well as heir to the throne Prince Charles on March 25. Meanwhile, there are complaints that not everyone is taking social distancing seriously.
Image: picture-alliance/R. Pinney
Grim milestone for the US
On March 27 the US overtakes China in terms of the number of people infected, making it the country with the most cases of COVID-19. This came as President Donald Trump claimed that the nation would get back to work "pretty quickly." At the same time, it emerged that more than 3 million Americans had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. New York is worst-hit, with a hospital ship sent to help out.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot/J. Fischer
Spain's surging death toll
Spain also overtakes China in the number of COVID-19 cases on March 30, as the government toughens the severity of its lockdown. All non-essential activities are halted. Only Italy has a higher death toll than Spain. Most affected is the capital, Madrid. With funeral services overwhelmed, officials turn the Palacio de Hielo ice skating rink into a temporary morgue.
Image: picture-alliance/Geisler-Fotopress
More than a million
On April 2nd the Johns Hopkins University announced on Thursday that there were more than a million confirmed coronavirus cases around the world. The US is the most affected with three times the number than China, where the virus emerged in December. Over 50.000 people have died — and the outlook remains grim.
Image: Reuters/J. Redmond
UK PM Boris Johnson hospitalized
The 55-year-old was admitted to the intensive care unit at London's St Thomas hospital on Monday evening (6.4.) and was given oxygen treatment after his condition worsened. He had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 27.
Image: AFP/10 Downing Street
21 images1 | 21
It is only a matter of time before an infection is confirmed in Africa, said John Nkengasongo, director of the African Union's Africa Centers for Disease Control. "We have to admit that we can not be so fortunate that we do not have cases in Africa, while there are cases all over the world," Nkengasongo told reporters at a news conference in Addis Ababa on Wednesday. "It all depends on how strong our surveillance systems are."
"The surveillance systems are as good as the health systems in our member states," he added. "And we all know that we [have] very different levels of strength in the member states. So this will be a test case of how those systems have been strengthened over the years."
Some countries on the continent may benefit from their recent experience with another deadly virus. During the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa that claimed more than 10,000 lives, several countries — including Ivory Coast — developed early warning systems.
"We have activated the same systems we were using at that time," said Joseph Benie Bi Vroh, director of the state institute for public hygiene in Abidjan. Thermal imaging cameras have already been installed at the country's international airport in Abidjan, designed to check all arriving passengers for fever. "Thanks to our experience with Ebola, we are well-prepared," Benie Bi Vroh told DW.
A number of African states developed viral outbreak warning systems during the Ebola epidemicImage: Getty Images/AFP/J. Wessels
Nigeria, the continent's most populous country with a population of around 200 million, is also focused on airports. "At the moment we are carrying out a visual check to find passengers with symptoms of illness," said Henrieta Yakuku, the general manger for corporate affairs at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
However, some members of the public feel that is not enough. "I would like to see the government show as much commitment as it did when the Ebola virus was contained," argued a passerby in the capital, Abuja.
The coronavirus is not Ebola, however, noted John Nkengasongo.
Currently, his agency is cooperating with the WHO and Chinese government experts to supply all African Union member states with the appropriate diagnostic kits. In many African countries, the virus cannot yet be diagnosed beyond a doubt — Ethiopia's Ministry of Health had to send the blood samples of the four suspected cases to South Africa. In the event of a major outbreak, valuable time could be lost.
