Coronavirus outbreak in Burundi 'under control'

BUJUMBURA, Burundi

With an ongoing mass screening campaign set to end next week, the government of Burundi has announced that the coronavirus outbreak in the country is under control.

The landlocked East African country of 11 million has registered 474 cases, including one death and 462 recoveries, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The coronavirus outbreak has been brought under control, especially with the launch of the voluntary mass screening campaign in the country,” Thaddee Ndikumana, minister of public health, said at a news briefing late on Tuesday.

The Burundian government launched a three-month nationwide coronavirus screening campaign in July and has conducted 25, 221 COVID-19 tests so far.

“A month ago, we registered more than 35 positive cases among visitors who arrived from abroad with negative COVID-19 certificates,” he said, stressing that the threat “is not over.”

“Even a single case shows it is still there,” the minister warned, urging people to continue observing preventive measures.

He said the price of a COVID-19 test for people traveling to and from the country had been set at $50.

*Writing by Felix Tih