Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
As of 15 August, the Central African Republic (CAR) had registered 4,667 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 88% of which are local transmissions. 61 deaths have been reported. Only 305 new cases were reported this period, which could be linked to the new, more restrictive testing strategy.
While the vast majority of cases has been reported in the Bangui urban area, other 8 health districts (out of 35) have reported between 10 and 50 cases since the beginning of the epidemic.
In this reporting period results achieved by UNICEF and partners include:
- 477 handwashing facilities set up in in Kaga Bandoro (Nana-Grébizi), Bouar (Nana-Mambéré), Sibut and Ndjoukou (Kemo), Bambari and Grimari (Ouaka) for an estimate of 95,500 users per day;
- 170 schools equipped with handwashing stations to ensure safe back to school to final year students;
- 12,350 children following lessons on the radio;
- 11,906 people including 7,208 children under five received free essential care;
- 2,012 children aged 6-59 months admitted for treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) across the country;
- 6,809 children and community members received psychosocial support.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
As of 15 August, the Central African Republic (CAR) had registered 4,667 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 88% of which are local transmissions. 61 deaths have been reported. While vast majority of cases have been reported in the Bangui urban area, 8 health districts in the rest of the country (out of 35) have reported between 10 and 50 cases. They are located in the West (in MambereKadei, Nana Mambere and Ouham Pende prefectures) and Center (in Kemo, Ouaka, Nana Gribizi and Haute Kotto prefectures).
In the last thirty days only 305 positive cases have been recorded. This decrease in cases is thought to be partly linked to the new testing strategy adopted at the end of June, which limits testing to symptomatic suspected cases.
On 3 August, the Ministry of Health and Population revised the criteria for COVID-19 recovery. A single negative control test 10 days after the first test, three days of which without clinical signs, is now sufficient to declare a patient cured of COVID-19.
Although the number of officially recorded cases has only slightly increased in the reporting period, the social and economic consequences continue to affect the country. In particular, girls and women vulnerability and exposure to gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence, have been increasing since the beginning of the outbreak. Between April and June, GBV actors recorded twice the number of GBV incidents recorded between January and March, for a total of 2,904 GBV incidents, including 668 cases of sexual violence as opposed to 1,299 incidents, including 335 cases of sexual violence. The increase in the overall number of incidents could be attributed to the impact of COVID-19 prevention measures such as the closure of schools and child-friendly spaces (CFS) that have put children at greater risk of sexual violence, domestic violence and child marriage.
In terms of economic consequences, the cost of the survival minimum expenditure basket (SMEB) reached in July its highest level since the beginning of 2020 (REACH, August 2020).