South Africa on Monday announced a three-week lockdown with soldiers patrolling the streets to ensure compliance as more countries in the continent reported coronavirus fatalities and the disease spread. There have been more than 400 coronavirus cases in Africa's most developed economy—the highest in sub-Saharan Africa—with the number climbing six-fold in just eight days. "A 48-hour-long total confinement has been declared over all Haut-Katanga province as of Monday," Governor Jacques Kyabula said in a statement. The DRC has recorded 30 cases of coronavirus since March 10, two of them fatalities. "In reality, partial or total confinement could have disastrous effects for the African continent," Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala said on her Facebook page.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 23, 2020 21:00 UTC