COVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
[3] The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world, and access to health care is limited.
[4] On 10 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.
[10] The case was initially reported to be a Belgian national who visited the country and was later quarantined in a hospital in Kinshasa.
The failure to report accurate details on the first case sparked a rebuke from President Félix Tshisekedi who stated in a cabinet meeting that the health ministry had acted in an "appalling and mediocre" way.
[14][15] After five more confirmed cases, the first death in the country was reported, following announcements that Angola will be closing the border with the DRC.
In conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Kivu Ebola epidemic, and the world's largest measles outbreak, the situation has been described as a "perfect storm" by the Red Cross.
[21] On 29 June 2020, Albert M’peti Biyombo, DRC deputy health minister, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister accusing the cabinet members of colluding with networks within the health ministry to embezzle funds from the government and its aid partners.
The number of recovered patients reached 6796, leaving 2059 active cases at the end of the month.
The number of recovered patients increased to 10,129, leaving 230 active cases at the end of the month.
The number of recovered patients increased to 10790, leaving 297 active cases at the end of the month.
The number of recovered patients increased to 11585, leaving 854 active cases at the end of the month.
[28] On 18 November, the government announced that it has managed to contain an outbreak of Ebola in Equateur Province after assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, states that the response has provided several lessons for the global fight against COVID and has built local capacity.
The number of recovered patients increased to 14,701, leaving 2366 active cases at the end of the month.
[30] Model-based simulations indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t was lower than 1.0 in December and January.
The number of recovered patients increased to 15,031, leaving 7069 active cases at the end of the month.
She and her husband subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, having been contaminated by her brother and cabinet minister Dédié Bandubola upon his return from a trip to France.
[63] Several other people close to president Félix Tshisekedi tested positive, with some even dying, including his uncle and leader of the civil cabinet Gérard Mulumba Kalemba and Jean-Joseph Mukendi wa Mulumba, Bâtonnier and former political advisor to Étienne Tshisekedi.
He also stated his belief that the government has not been capable of helping the country's poorest populations, saying that he fears their reactions if the number of deaths increases.
The presidential camp refused, and the Constitutional Court eventually ruled in favor of the chief of state.
A vote to extend the state of emergency by two weeks passed on 23 April, putting an end to the political crisis.
[67] On 22 April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced its decision to release 363.27 million dollars in order to help the DRC as a part of its Rapid Credit Facility plan.
[68] 27 April, prime minister Sylvestre Ilunga announced that the eleven billion-dollar budget planned for 2020 would not be able to be implemented due to the pandemic.
The economic context has indeed been greatly impacted; the DRC, having an outward-oriented economy, is very dependent on its commerce with the rest of the world.
"[69] In addition, lockdown measures are difficult to implement and enforce economically, especially in Kinshasa, where a large portion of the population lives in precarious conditions.
The movement Lutte pour le changement said it feared a "humanitarian catastrophe or riots" when authorities announced the lockdown towards the end of March 2020.
[71] An explosion in cases of domestic violence against women was observed during the lockdown, with victims being forced to remain shut away with their abusers.
[71] The rise in the unemployment rate, already underway in Kinshasa before the pandemic, intensified, and a resurgence of banditry (most notably armed robbery) also occurred.
