COVID-19 pandemic in São Tomé and Príncipe


The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached São Tomé and Príncipe on 6 April 2020. The first death was recorded on 30 April.

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 indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number Rt of São Tomé and Príncipe was below 1.0 in May and June 2020 but has since increased to around 1.

Timeline

April 2020

On 6 April, the first four cases in the country were confirmed.
On 30 April, the first death was reported. At the time, São Tomé and Príncipe had 16 cases, four of which had recovered and one of which had died. The deceased was a 55-year-old man living in Cantalago. There were 11 active cases.

May 2020

In May there were 279 new cases and 9 deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 295 and the death toll to 10.

June 2020

In June there were 99 new cases and one death, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 394 and the death toll to 11.

July 2020

There were 477 new cases and four deaths in July, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 871 and the death toll to 15. There were 78 active cases at the end of the month.

Prevention

In order to prevent the spread of the virus, the government has put in place various travel restrictions and quarantining measures.

Economic impact

Tourism accounts for more than 20% of employment in the country, and with activity in the sector coming to a near-halt, the economic impact has been severe.