OUAGADOUGOU – A senior member of Burkina Faso’s government tested positive for the coronavirus, just days after another lawmaker became the West African country’s first casualty of the pandemic.
Minister of Mines and Quarries Oumarou Idani developed symptoms after returning from a conference in Toronto, his communications’ team said in a statement on its Facebook page on Friday. Foreign Affairs Minister Alpha Barry, Minister for Territorial Administration Simeon Sawadogo and Minister of Education Stanislas Ouaro have also contracted the disease, known as Covid-19.
Burkina Faso, one of Africa’s biggest gold producers, is among the worst affected by the virus in the region with 64 cases and three deaths. President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Friday closed airports, land borders and imposed a nationwide curfew to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Burkina Faso is also struggling to contain a wave of jihadist violence that has left scores dead and displaced 800 000 people.