Dakar – Senegal’s national bus operator announced over the weekend that it will suspend intercity transport due to a recent surge in Covid-19 infections in the West African country.
Bus routes between cities will stop running from Sunday, operator Dakar Dem Dikk said in a statement.
It explained that it made the decision because of the fresh surge in virus cases, and alluded to receiving “alarming information” on Saturday evening, without offering further details.
The announcement comes after Senegal hit a new daily record for coronavirus cases on Saturday.
It also comes as many people in the mostly Muslim country were preparing to travel home to celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, which begins next week.
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The health ministry in the nation of 16 million people said Saturday that it had recorded 1,366 new cases — with a positivity rate of 36 percent.
The figure is almost double the daily record of 733 infections that Senegal recorded on Wednesday.
On Friday, President Macky Sall threatened to close borders and restrict internal travel because of the rise in cases.
He urged people to limit gatherings and travel, wear masks and adhere to social distancing to curb the spread.
But the president also pledged to take “all necessary measures” should cases continue to rise, including closing the borders and restricting internal travel.
Sall warned of the dangers of the virulent Delta strain of Covid-19 in particular.
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“We have to be conscious that this Delta variant has an unprecedented speed of contamination,” he said.
Since the start of the pandemic more than 50 000 cases have been recorded in Senegal with over 1,200 deaths.
But there is currently a shortage of jabs in the country, where more than 605 000 people have been vaccinated so far.
The health ministry has announced the arrival of about 500 000 vaccine doses before the end of the month, hoping to end the current shortage.
Sall has so far avoided imposing strict measures to curb the virus, relying instead on personal responsibility.
A curfew and limits on gatherings were lifted after riots broke out in March.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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