BY STEVE JOHNSON

(Editing by Lou Sifa)

While the coronavirus outbreak has so far spared Sub-Saharan Africa to a large extent, four more countries in the region announced today, Saturday, their first cases.

The confirmation today by the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Mauritania and Seychelles brought the number of Sub-Saharan countries affected by the pandemic to 23. The unfortunate news raised again the concerns about the lack of adequate medical facilities in most countries in this poor region of the world, hence their lack of preparedness to control the spread of the virus.

But not several African nations are alike. Soon after the discovery of the first case, Rwanda announced the closing of schools and universities for two weeks starting on Monday. Kigali, which had illustrated itself with placing water basins with soap and sanitizer on the streets to require that commuters wash their hands prior to boarding buses, immediately banned large gatherings, including weddings and sporting events, and asked places of worship to suspend services.

Several other African that had previously reported coronavirus cases have done the same. Further north, Morocco, which has so far confirmed 13 cases, today, Saturday, suspended flights from as many as 21 countries.