Concha Belen Ndong Mba. Equatorial Guinea.

07/04/2020

From Equatorial Guinea I inform you that the situation of Covid 19 here is similar to that of other countries in Africa and the rest of the continents. But at the moment we have a total of 15 cases in the country, two of which are local infections and the rest imported, most of which are asymptomatic. One patient has been cured and released.

The Government has taken relevant measures such as the closure of schools, churches, bars, discotheques, etc., with the exception of public markets and shopping malls which comply with the preventive measures. As for the confidence I have in politics and health care as such, I would say that I do not have it one hundred per cent, cautious of the lack of equipment, especially equipment such as breathing apparatus in case we reach more cases of respiratory complications.

At the level of the population, many are still unaware of the existence of the virus, and there are still many clandestine exits, without the protection of a mask and gloves, let alone keeping a distance of one meter.

As a health care worker, I always work by going to the hospital to look after my newborns, but with protection from head to toe. After work I go straight home, if there is something to buy I go and get it and then I go back home, no visits and no friendly meetings. My family is here and I am only with my children and my husband who is also an intensive care specialist on the Covid-19 cases monitoring and management committee. My children stay at home doing their homework.

I believe that this coronavirus crisis will affect children and women equally, depending on the case and the way it is addressed.

Right now and so far I am not short of anything, but around me I see people losing their jobs and thinking about how they are going to feed their families, how they are going to get from place to place, because taxis only carry one person depending on what the government and the health care system does.

I think this crisis will affect many countries in the future, but particularly in my country the economic sector.