Cameroon: COVID 19 Emergency Situation Report No. 08 - As of 30 September 2020

This report is produced by OCHA Cameroon in collaboration with the COVID-19 Task force. It covers the period from 15 to 30 September 2020. The next report will be issued on 15 October 2020

HIGHLIGHTS

• From 15 to 29 September 2020, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has recorded 553 new cases countrywide, 643 recoveries and 4 deaths. The case-fatality rate is 2% as of 29 September 2020.

• WFP has announced the reopening of flights to N'Djamena from 5 October 2020.

• OCHA in collaboration with partners started the distribution of 400,000 surgical masks funded by CERF to local and international NGOs and health partners involved in COVID-19 response in the FarNorth region.

• Eight cases of cholera cases including one death have been reported in the South-West region and one case in the South region on 20 September, amid COVID-19 emergency.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

As of the end of September, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has confirmed in the country 20,712 cases, 19,440 recoveries and 852 cases identified among health workers. A total of 418 deaths have been recorded. Overall, men are more affected than women (M/F sex ratio: 1.4), and the 30-39 age group is the most affected. Cameroon remains the ninth most affected country in Africa regarding number of cases compared to total population and the African country with the highest recovery rate (94 percent).

To facilitate humanitarian intervention between Ndjamena and Cameroon, flights to N'Djamena (Chad) will resume as of 5 October 2020 in Cameroon. The respect of the sanitary protocol has already been addressed by UNHAS. Unfortunately, the border between Chad and Cameroon remains closed at the N’Djamena-Kousseri crossing point. Advocacy by the United Nations continues in both countries and at the global level for the reopening of the Cameroon/Chad land borders which would be essential for humanitarian staff enclaved in Kousseri.

The Prime Minister, Head of Government, chaired on 24 September 2020, a meeting with all government actors in the sector of education. This consultation was devoted to the evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on the start of the school and university year 2020-2021. The main issue was the control of student enrolment. In this light, the number of students per classroom has been limited to a maximum of fifty, including two students per bench, based on a three-level system:

• Full-time classes for schools with enough physical space to maintain social distancing.

• Half-time groups, with some groups from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm and the others from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm to allow social distancing in schools without enough physical space.

• Distance learning to avoid discontinuing learning days for the alternating periods when groups cannot be present in school.

As a result of the measures taken under the government's response strategy against COVID-19 to suspend and impose physical distancing and preventive hygiene measures, no cases of student deaths due to the disease have been recorded during the 2019-2020 school year.