COVID-19 pandemic in Equatorial Guinea


The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Equatorial Guinea on 14 March 2020. Equatorial Guinea has a weak healthcare system, leaving it vulnerable to an outbreak.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. Model-based simulations for Equatorial Guinea suggest that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t has been stable above 1.0 since April 2020.

Timeline

March 2020

The country's first case was announced on 14 March, a 42-year-old woman in Malabo, who returned to Equatorial Guinea from Madrid. Two further cases were confirmed on 17 March.
On 22 March, the country declared a state of alarm, which was needed to facilitate the mobilization of economic and material resources needed to stem the spread of coronavirus. A special emergency fund was also created to curb the virus.
As of 24 March, there were nine cases in the country, all imported. There were no confirmed cases of community spread in the country at the time.
By the end of March there had been 14 confirmed cases. All 14 remained active at the end of the month.

April 2020

During April there were 301 new cases, raising the total number of cases to 315. There was one death. Nine patients recovered, leaving 305 active cases at the end of the month.

May 2020

In May there were 991 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 1306. The death toll rose to 12. There were 1094 active cases at the end of the month. The number of recovered patients rose to 200.

June 2020

On 3 June, the government asked the World Health Organization's representative, Dr Triphonie Nkurunziza, to leave the country, accusing her of having falsified COVID-19 data.
There were 695 new cases in June, raising the total number of cases of 2001. The death toll rose to 32. The number of recovered patients increased by 315 to 515, leaving 1454 active cases at the end of the month.

July 2020

In mid-July it was announced that regular reporting of data on COVID-19 cases would resume, having been halted four times in May, June and July due to concerns over alleged misinterpretations of data.
In early July, over 100 Vietnamese workers have contracted the virus while working at the at the Sendje hydropower plant project in Litoral province. On July 30, all 219 Vietnamese workers, 129 of them positive for coronavirus, have been flown home from Bata by a repatriation Vietnam Airlines flight.

Response

The Africa Oil & Investment Forum was postponed.
The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons waived fees for service companies in order to alleviate the economic fallout from the pandemic.