COVID-19 pandemic in São Tomé and Príncipe

The virus was confirmed to have reached São Tomé and Príncipe on 6 April 2020.

[3] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

[8][6] Model-based simulations indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number Rt of São Tomé and Príncipe was below 1.0 in May and June 2020 but has since increased to around 1.

In order to prevent the spread of the virus, the government has put in place various travel restrictions and quarantining measures.

[24] Tourism accounts for more than 20% of employment in the country, and with activity in the sector coming to a near-halt, the economic impact has been severe.