African countries are still battling ferociously with the coronavirus, with South Africa retaining its position as the hardest-hit country in the continent.
Mponeng Mine Shuts Down
Roughly a month after resuming operations, the Mponeng mine, located around 75km southwest of Johannesburg, announced over the weekend that it has temporarily stopped operations for sanitization purposes.
The news came after a total of 164 people contracted the disease at the mine and some workers reportedly raised concerns about their health and their safety amid multiple infections.
AngloGold Ashanti, the Mnopeng mine's owners, said in a statement that a larger number of those who tested COVID-19 positive were asymptomatic and all of them have also been placed under quarantine.
South Africa, where Mnopeng mine is located, is still the hardest-hit country in the continent in terms of infections as it logged a total of 21,343 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Sunday. It is not the hardest-hit country in fatalities.
Ethiopia Cases Spike
Ethiopia on Sunday reported 81 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the country's total to 582. The country recorded 193 infections in five days, indicating a spike in new cases, with Addis Ababa logging the largest number of infections over the period.
Of the total number of cases in Ethiopia, 423 were still active. There are now also 152 new recovered patients, after eight new recoveries on Sunday.
Money Transfer Disrupted Across Africa Disrupted
The coronavirus outbreak in Africa has led to widespread disruption of money transfer transactions across the continent. The disruption took place a time when thousands of Africans are expecting to send or receive money due to the crisis.
Aside from Africans who are feeling the brunt of remittance flows drying up due to the COVID-19 crisis, migrants are also in a bind as the World Bank recently estimated that global remittances will likely plunge by up to 20 percent due to the pandemic.
Dilip Ratha from the World Bank noted that "Africa will be particularly hard hit by the slump" as the agency estimated a massive decline of money transfer transactions in the country by up to 23.1 percent.
Migrants are expected to be the group to be hurt the most from the expected slump in remittance activity since many migrants to Africa do not have their own bank accounts and rely on money transfers.
The continent is also expected to experience its first recession in 25 years as the African economy is expected to shrink by over five percent in 2020.
WHO Warns of African Countries' Vulnerability
On Friday, World Health Organization director of Health Emergencies Program Dr. Mike Ryan warned that while the spread of COVID-19 in Africa is not as rampant as that in other western and Asian countries, there are "many, many highly vulnerable groups" across the continent.
Ryan further explained that children in Africa who are suffering chronic malnutrition will be impacted by the situation, as well as those who are sheltered in refugee camps.
As of Sunday evening, Africa registered a total of 111, 812 confirmed coronavirus cases and 3,354 deaths from the fast-spreading disease.
