COVID-19:The new strain of coronavirus circulating in Senegal is more virulent - Diouf Sarr

New strain of coronavirus circulating in Senegal is more virulent

Senegal has been experiencing an upsurge in new COVID-19 infections over the past two weeks.

 

The Senegalese Minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr disclosed on Saturday, the strain of the second wave of coronavirus currently circulating in Senegal is "more virulent" than the first wave.

 

In an interview with the local newspaper Le Quotidien, Sarr said that "the virus is considered to be more virulent." in terms of the aggressiveness of this second wave.

 

"Clearly, from the point of view of the statistics that we have on the positivity rate by district, but also the attack rate and other parameters, we can confirm that the start of this wave has a steep upward curve" explained the Senegalese Minister of Health.

 

According to him, the health workers will continue their attempts to delay the spread of the pandemic, amid the frustration of nine months of COVID-19 fight.

 

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Regarding the vaccine, he said that Senegal is a member of the COVAX initiative, adding that the country looks forward to having the vaccine by the second quarter of 2021 at the latest after the WHO approves a vaccine candidate.

 

He also emphasized that all efforts to safeguard the vaccine process would be taken by the Senegalese government.

 

To date, Senegal has recorded 18,523 positive COVID-19 cases since 2 March, including 16,881 recoveries and 387 fatalities.