Cabo Verde: Pandemic situation in Praia improving, Fogo Island remains in state of calamity

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Cabo Verde: Pandemic situation in Praia improving, Fogo Island remains in state of calamity

10:18 CAT | 16 Dec 2020

File photo: Lusa

The Cape Verdean government extended the state of disaster on the island of Fogo for 30 days because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the drop in cases in Praia has put the island of Santiago in a state of contingency, like the rest of the archipelago.

The decision is set out in a resolution of the cabinet meeting that came into force on Tuesday, which notes a very positive development in the municipality of Praia, which was once the main focus of the disease but now has only 29 active cases, as well as a relative stabilisation of the situation on the other islands of the archipelago.

“The government believes that the basic reasons that led to the decree of the calamity situation on the island of Fogo are still in place, and therefore determines its extension based on the need to minimise the risks of transmission of the infection”.

In the three counties of Fogo Island, the main focus of the disease in Cabo Verde on Tuesday, 84 coronavirus cases are active, in a national total of 211 active patients on 14 December.

“On the other hand, the government believes that the evolution registered in Praia justifies the decree of a contingency situation on the island of Santiago, as well as prolonging this situation on the other islands of the archipelago,” said the resolution, which highlighted the particular picture that is being experienced on that island, where the first cases of Covid-19 were only diagnosed in August.

“In this way, to ensure the stability of the measures adopted previously, the present resolution maintains the rules currently in force for situations of contingency and calamity”.

The previous state of calamity had been decreed for the islands of Fogo and Santiago for a period of 30 days, which ended on 14 December.

Among several measures, which involve extending the opening hours of bars, esplanades and restaurants, access to beaches is now also possible between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on all the islands in a state of contingency, including Praia, for the first time in several months.

Cabo Verde has an accumulated number of 110 dead and 11,361 coronavirus cases.

Source: Lusa