COVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo


The COVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 10 March 2020. The first few confirmed cases were all outside arrivals.

Background

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world, and access to health care is limited. The DRC has been battling the Kivu Ebola epidemic since 2018, and this epidemic was still ongoing when the COVID-19 crisis began.
On 10 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.

Timeline

March 2020

On 10 March, the first case was reported in the country. The case was initially reported to be a Belgian national who visited the country and was later quarantined in a hospital in Kinshasa. The Health Minister of the DRC,, said that the situation is "under control" and that "there is no need to panic". The nationality and travel history of the first case turned out to be incorrect. The case was actually a Congolese citizen who had returned from France and contacted health services. The failure to report accurate details on the first case sparked a rebuke from President Félix Tshisekedi who stated in a cabinet meeting that the health ministry had acted in an "appalling and mediocre" way.
The second case was confirmed to be a Cameroonian national in the country, who returned from France on 8 March. Initially asymptomatic, he later developed symptoms and received treatment in a hospital in Kinshasa. After five more confirmed cases, the first death in the country was reported, following announcements that Angola will be closing the border with the DRC.
During the month there were 109 confirmed cases, eight of whom died while four recovered in March.

April 2020

There were 463 new cases in April, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 572. The death toll rose to 31. The number of recovered patients increased to 65, leaving 476 active cases at the end of the month.

May 2020

In May there were 2476 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 3048. The death toll more than doubled to 71.

June 2020

On 1 June, a new Ebola outbreak was declared in Mbandaka. In conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Kivu Ebola epidemic, and the world's largest measles outbreak, the situation has been described as a "perfect storm" by the Red Cross.
On 16 June, a crowd ransacked a coronavirus treatment centre in South Kivu in response to the killing of a young man, rumoured to have been killed by police enforcing a virus curfew.
On 29 June 2020, Albert M’peti Biyombo, DRC deputy health minister, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister accusing the cabinet members of colluding with networks within the health ministry to embezzle funds from the government and its aid partners.
During June there were 3990 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 7038. The death toll rose to 169.

July 2020

Prevention measures

Schools, bars, restaurants, and places of worship were closed. On 19 March, President Félix Tshisekedi announced flight suspensions. On 24 March, he imposed a state of emergency and closed the borders.