Africa

"Mask Up!" - Chad

Image: Representative illustration of persons wearing masks as a preventative measure against the spread of COVID-19. Taken 1.25.2021

Chad reintroduced rules making it obligatory to wear face masks in public spaces and observe social-distancing as the number of coronavirus cases rises again in one of the world's least-developed countries, the health ministry said.
N'DJAMENA — 

Since the outbreak of the global pandemic in early 2020, Chad has recorded a total 7,417 cases and 194 deaths from Covid-19.

Last week, a total 33 new cases were reported in the capital N'Djamena alone.

"In view of the epidemiological situation of the Covid-19 pandemic both worldwide and in Chad in particular... all preventative measures against disease, particular mask-wearing and social-distancing, must be adhered to," the health ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said that vaccination "remains strongly recommended for the entire population."

The African Development Bank has said that Covid-19 "likely exacerbated poverty rates" in the landlocked country.

Chad is ranked by the United Nations as the third-least-developed country in the world and suffers from very high rates of deaths in childbirth, with one child in every five dying before reaching the age of five.