COVID-19 pandemic in Cape Verde


The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Cape Verde in March 2020.

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 Cape Verde suggest that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t has been fluctuating around 1.2 since April 2020.

Timeline

March 2020

On 20 March, the first case of COVID-19 in the country was confirmed, being a 62-year-old foreigner from the United Kingdom.
Two more cases were confirmed the following day on 21 March. Both cases were tourists, one from the Netherlands, aged 60, and one from United Kingdom, aged 62. These two cases and the previous one were all on Boa Vista island before testing positive. The first death was announced on 24 March, regarding the first confirmed case in Cape Verde.
On 25 March, a fourth case was confirmed, a 43-year-old national citizen who had returned from Europe, being the first case detected in the country's capital, Praia, on Santiago island. On the following day, 26 March, Cape Verde's Health minister announced that the man's wife had also tested positive, thus being the first reported local transmission.
Of the five confirmed cases in March, by the end of the month one had died while four remained active cases.

April 2020

In April there were 116 new cases, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 121. The death toll remained unchanged and four patients recovered, leaving 116 active cases at the end of the month.

May 2020

In May there were 314 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 435. The death toll rose to 4. There were 189 recoveries, raising the number of recovered patients to 193 and leaving 238 active cases at the end of the month.

June 2020

There were 792 new cases in June, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 1227. The death toll rose to 15. The number of recovered patients increased to 629, leaving 583 active cases at the end of the month.

Prevention

Since 16 March tests are being made in Cape Verde rather than abroad, by the Laboratório de Virologia de Cabo Verde, in Praia.
On 17 March, as a contingency measure, Prime Minister José Ulisses Correia e Silva announced the suspension of all incoming flights from the US, Brazil, Senegal, Nigeria, Portugal, and all European countries affected by the coronavirus. The suspension is active for three weeks. Exceptions are for cargo flights and flights for foreign citizens wishing to return home. The ban also applies to the docking of cruise ships, sailing ships and landing from passengers or crew from cargo ships or fishing ships. More exceptional measures were taken the day after, and the contingency level was raised on 27 March.
Cabo Verde Airlines had already taken the decision to suspend flights. Since 28 February the flights to Milan are suspended. On 6 March, the flights to Lagos, Porto Alegre and Washington D.C. were also suspended. On 17 March, accordingly to the Government decision, Cabo Verde Airlines suspended all its other routes.
On March 28, for the first time ever, a state of emergency was declared in Cape Verde, implementing a set of measures aimed at reducing social contact, and closing many businesses.