By Daniel Itai.
Kinshasa, DRC. (News of The South) –
There are now growing concerns over the Ebola and COVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by international humanitarian organisation, Mercy Corps.
With new Ebola cases emerging in the DRC just days before the largest ever epidemic in the country was to be declared over, the country is now fighting health enemies on two fronts.
“After 20 months spent fighting Ebola, we are still not done, and now with a rising number of COVID-19 cases, the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing health enemies on two fronts.
At 10 percent, DRC already has one of the highest mortality rates for COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa. While not as deadly as Ebola, COVID-19 is far more contagious.
In a country where violence and displacement has caused city populations to swell, the potential impact of COVID-19 on densely packed communities with infrequent water supply and insufficient healthcare is frightening.
Like with Ebola, community engagement will be central to any COVID-19 prevention efforts. Community structures must continue to be supported and trained so they gain ownership of the health responses, and become the main actors protecting their communities.
As Mercy Corps, we are continuing with our Ebola activities and integrating prevention information about COVID-19 into all programmes. We are also training 2 000 community action groups in Beni, Butembo and Goma on prevention, risk mitigation and surveillance,” said Whitney Elmer, Mercy Corps Country Director for DRC.
DRC is registering between 10 and 20 new cases of COVID-19 per day since it was first detected there on March 10 2020. The nation has reported 604 cases in all, mostly in Kinshasa, and 32 deaths.
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