COVID-19 pandemic in Western Sahara

COVID-19 pandemic in Western Sahara
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationWestern Sahara
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
Index caseBoujdour
Arrival date4 April 2020
(4 weeks)
Confirmed cases766[1]
Active cases41
Recovered25
Deaths
2

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Western Sahara in April 2020. The released data from the Moroccan government includes cases in the disputed Western Sahara territory controlled by Morocco but not Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, due to an ongoing dispute.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) 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.[2][3]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[4][5] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[6][4]

Timeline

On 4 April, the first four cases were confirmed in Boujdour by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).[7]

On 9 April, MINURSO reported that two new cases were confirmed in Dakhla, bringing the number of confirmed cases to six.[8]

On 24 April, MINURSO reported four more cases, bringing the number of confirmed cases to ten.[9]

By 19 June there had been 26 confirmed cases, the latest of which in Laayoune. One patient had died (in Tindouf, 24 May) while 23 had recovered and 2 were still active cases.[10]

On 31 August there were 41 active cases in Laayoune.[11]

On 30 April 2021, Morocco granted Carles Puigdemont asylum. According to a source from the Moroccan foreign ministry, the decision was made in due to "the principle of reciprocity to host the Catalan independence leader" after Sahrawi President Brahim Ghali was allowed to go to Spain to get treated for COVID-19.[12]

Statistics

New cases per day

See also

References

  1. ↑ "WESTERN SAHARA". Reuters.
  2. ↑ Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. ↑ Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "4 April 2020: REGULAR UPDATES BY MINURSO ON COVID-19". United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINOSUR). 4 April 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "9 April 2020: REGULAR UPDATES BY MINURSO ON COVID-19". United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "24 April 2020: Regular updates by MINURSO on COVID-19". United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "19 June 2020: Regular updates by MINURSO on COVID-19". United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara S/2020/938" (PDF). United Nations. 23 September 2020. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "Morocco grants asylum to former Catalan leader in response to Polisario visit to Spain". Middle East Monitor. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.


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