Africa's first confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced in Egypt on 14 February 2020. Many preventive measures have been implemented in different countries in Africa, including travel restrictions, flight cancellations, event cancellations, school closures, and border closures. Other measures to contain and limit the spread of the virus has included curfews, lockdowns, and enforcing the wearing of face masks. The virus has spread throughout the continent. Lesotho, the last African sovereign state to have remained free of the virus, reported a case on 13 May 2020.

Timeline of responses

April

1 April Eritrea announced a three-week lockdown, commencing 2 April to combat the spread of COVID-19. Sierra Leone declared that a three-day lockdown would come into effect on Saturday (4 April).

14 April The Ghana Education Service and Zoomlion Ghana Limited joined forces to launch an initiative to fumigate all Senior High, special and technical schools in the country to curb the spread of the pandemic. President of Guinea Alpha Condé makes it compulsory for all citizens and residents to wear face masks, coming into effect on 18 April. Offenders face a civil disobedience tax of 30,000 Guinean francs (US$3.16, €2.8). Condéalso called upon all companies, ministries and NGOs to provide masks to their employees by Saturday and called for masks to be manufactured locally and sold cheaply.

May

1 May South Africa has begun to loosen its lockdown restrictions, allowing some businesses and factories to resume operations. Restaurants will be allowed to provide takeaway services. Recreational activities such as walking, cycling, and running will be allowed for three hours a day. The South African Government has maintained a ban on the sales of cigarettes and alcohol. President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended Zimbabwe's lockdown for two more weeks and announced a US$720 million stimulus for affected companies.

4 May The International Monetary Fund has disbursed Cameroon US$226 million to meet urgent balance of payment needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nigerian Government has announced that a 24-hour "stay at home" order that had been imposed since 30 March in the capital Abuja and the states of Lagos and Ogun will be lifted over a six-week period. This has include allowing businesses and transportation to resume with people wearing face masks.

In South Africa, Dondo Mogajane, the Director-General of the National Treasury, has warned that South African economy could contract by 12% and that one-third of the workforce could be affected by the coronavirus as a result of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zimbabwean Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube has appealed for the International Monetary Fund to clear its debt arrears in order to access foreign funding for COVID-19 relief efforts.

June

11 June According to the Africa Chief of the World Health Organization, the coronavirus pandemic is "accelerating" in the continent, with community transmission reported in more than half of all African countries. Data indicates that it took 18 days for Africa to record 200,000 cases compared to the 98 days it took for the continent to record 100,000 cases.

Rwanda will receive a further $110 million in economic loans from the International Monetary Fund to assist the country in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The IMF has now provided Rwanda with over $220 million during the crisis.

July

2 July The African Union revealed that the African continent has lost $55 billion in travel and tourism revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. The Union's Infrastructure and Energy Committee warned that some African airlines may not survive the economic consequences of the pandemic.

The coronavirus lockdown imposed in Nigeria's Kano State was lifted.

August

3 August In The Gambia, Finance Minister Mambury Njie, Energy Minister Fafa Sanyang, and Agriculture Minister Amie Fabureh all tested positive for COVID-19, and will subsequently self-isolate and work from home, taking the total number of cabinet ministers infected with the virus to five.

4 August The mayor of Kanifing District in The Gambia, Talib Bensouda, tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to hospital for treatment, becoming the sixth senior politician in the country to test positive. Nigerian private airline Air Peace announced that salaries have been cut and that around 70 pilots have been made redundant due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation.

Vice-President of Zimbabwe Constantino Chiwenga was announced as the country's new Health Minister, following the dismissal of previous minister Obadiah Moyo over several corruption allegations relating to the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

North Africa

Egypt

Travel restrictions The minister of aviation closed the airports and suspended all air travel, effective 19 March. The decision to suspend flights in Egypt came into effect from 19 March until 31 March.

Timeline of Testing

As of 25 March, the ministry of health announced that 25,000 PCR tests have been done.

As of 17 April, 55,000 PCR tests have been done

As of 23 April, 90,000 PCR tests have been done

As of 9 May 105,000 PCR tests have been done

Egypt now has more than 40 PCR testing equipment dispersed all over the country

Censorship Foreign media outlets have reported that certain individuals have been arrested for allegedly spreading false information about the coronavirus pandemic.

Morocco

Flight bans

On 13 March 2020 the Government of Morocco announced they were suspending all passenger flights and ferry crossings to and from Algeria, Spain and France until future notice. On 14 March 2020, the Government announced it was suspending flights with an additional 25 countries. By that date, flights had been suspended to/from Algeria, Spain, France, Italy and China. Subsequently, air travel was to cease shortly between Morocco and Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Senegal, Switzerland, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE.

On 15 March 2020, the Government suspended all international flights, and did not announce an expected date for international flights to resume. It allowed a minority of flights for foreigners wishing to leave to embark on before completely shutting down its airports on the 22nd. On 21 June, the government re-opened the major airports to serve domestic flights only. On 9 July, the government announced that international flights were to resume, with access only for Moroccans or for foreigners residing within the Kingdom. Incoming passengers were required to bring a Coronavirus test result from their country of departure, issued less than 48 hours of the time of arrival. Moroccans living outside of, or foreigners residing within the Kingdom were allowed to leave the country.

State of medical emergency Morocco declared a state of medical emergency on 19 March 2020, to take effect on 20 March 2020 at 6:00 pm local time and to remain in effect until 20 April 2020 with possibility to extend for a longer period. This directive requires the authorization of local state officials for citizens to leave their homes, while making exceptions for workers at supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, gas stations, medical clinics, telecommunications companies, and essential freelance jobs. A direct 24-hour hotline was set up to "reinforce direct communication and urge vigilance to fight the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and safeguard the health of citizens." In April, 2020, the government pardoned 5,654 prisoners, and it put forward procedures to protect inmates from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Emergency Fund On 15 March, King Mohammed VI announced the creation of an emergency fund (labelled as Fonds spécial pour la gestion de la pandémie du Coronavirus (Covid-19)) in order to upgrade health infrastructure and support the worst affected economic sectors. The fund has a volume of 10 billion dirham ($1 billion).

Central Africa Angola

Effective from 20 March, all Angolan borders were closed for 15 days. President João Lourenço banned all arrivals at airports and stopped passenger vessels docking at Angolan ports for 15 days. All these bans will last until 4 April. All schools in Angola closed on 24 March.

Cameroon

Government measures On 18 March, Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute closed its land, air and sea borders.

On 30 March, the Minister of Health announced the imminent launch of a coronavirus test campaign in the city of Douala. Dedicated teams will go door-to-door in the economic capital from 2 to 6 April, says the minister.

On 10 April, the government took 7 additional measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Cameroon. These measures take effect from Monday, 13 April 2020. Measure 1: Wearing a mask in all areas open to the public; Measure 2: Local production of drugs, screening tests, protective masks and hydro-alcoholic gels; Measure 3: Establishment of specialized COVID-19 treatment centers in all regional capitals; Measure 4: Intensification of the screening campaign with the collaboration of the Center Pasteur; Measure 5: Intensification of the awareness campaign in urban and rural areas in both official languages; Measure 6: Continuation of activities essential to the economy in strict compliance with the directives of 17 March 2020; Measure 7: Sanction

On 15 April, following the claims of the Human Rights Commission of the Cameroon Bar Association, President Paul Biya announced the release of certain prisoners in connection with COVID-19.

On Tuesday 5 May, the Minister of Health announced the provision to healthcare personnel of 50,000 coveralls, 320,000 surgical masks, 220 backpack sprayers, 10,000 pairs of overshoes. In late June, the government announced that the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations would be postponed until 2022.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Prevention measures Schools, bars, restaurants, and places of worship were closed. On 19 March, President Félix Tshisekedi announced flight suspensions. On 24 March, he imposed a state of emergency and closed the borders.

West Africa Ghana

The first two cases of the corona virus disease was confirmed on 12 March 2020, when two infected people came to Ghana; one from Norway and the other from Turkey. On 11 March, President Nana Akufo-Addo directed the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to make the cedi equivalent of $US100 million available to enhance Ghana's coronavirus preparedness and response plan. The Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund was also initiated to aid in the fight against the pandemic.

Bans and Lock downs

On 15 March, at 10 pm, President Nana Akufo-Addo banned all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, church activities and other related events to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at a press briefing on the state of COVID-19. Basic schools, senior high schools and universities, both public and private, have also been closed. Only BECE and WASSCE candidates were permitted to remain in school under social distancing protocols. The use of Veronica buckets have become very popular in Ghana following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as citizens engage in frequent hand washing to stem its spread.