Brazzaville – Congo-Brazzaville’s 78-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso was isolating on Sunday after several of the long-serving strongman’s entourage tested positive for coronavirus.
“In accordance with health protocols… the head of state, deemed to be a close contact, is required to observe a period of isolation,” read a presidency statement without specifying the duration of his quarantine.
Sassou Nguesso, a retired paratrooper who has led Congo-Brazzaville for 37 years over two terms in office, tested negative.
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He was represented by Foreign Minister Jean-Claude Gakosso at a Turkey-Africa summit in Istanbul this week and has postponed a visit to Congo’s economic capital Pointe-Noire to January.
Congo-Brazzaville recently lifted Covid curbs, including restrictions on weddings.
The oil-rich central African country has recorded at least 360 deaths caused by Covid-19.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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