Mukomo, Uganda/Yaounde, Cameroon - When
Margaret Ntale Namusisi's three daughters called her in Uganda
to say they were being quarantined at their university in Wuhan,
China, because of the coronavirus outbreak, she sent money and
told them: "Run very fast and do shopping."
Valeria, Veronica and Vivian did just that. But nearly one
month on, with no help from their government, they are now under
lockdown in a crowded apartment with orders to stay indoors with
the windows closed. Food, funds and morale are running low.
"They are traumatised," said Namusisi, who wakes up at 3
a.m. every day to talk to her daughters over the Chinese
messaging service WeChat. "They ask, has Uganda given up on us?"
Countries across the world have flown their nationals home
from China's quarantined Hubei province, the centre of the
outbreak of the virus that since January has infected more than
74,000 people and killed over 2,100.
But no sub-Saharan African country has done so, leaving
thousands stranded.
"We've gone to parliament, we've gone to the ministry of
health, we've gone to the ministry of foreign affairs and taken
them our petition to bring back our children," said Namusisi,
nearing tears.
Reuters spoke to families from Cameroon, Uganda, Senegal and
Ethiopia with similar tales of frustration. Many have set up
associations to pressure their governments to act, through
letters and petitions.
Governments across Africa have said they plan to send money
to students to help with expenses. Cameroon said it was sending
about $82,000 to help its citizens stuck in Hubei.
However, many including Senegal and Uganda, say they do not
have the resources to look after coronavirus patients at home
and their nationals would be safer in China where authorities
have reported a dramatic drop in new cases in Hubei.
But while Uganda said last week that it would send $61,000
to students stuck in Wuhan, the Namusisi sisters have received
nothing so far.
They survive on one meal a day of noodles or rice, their
mother said. Other foods are now too expensive: one kilo of beef
costs $13, one tomato a dollar.
They are not alone. Dagmawi Demelash Mengistu, a business
student from Ethiopia, said his school has provided latex gloves
and masks, but his government has not responded to students'
calls to be flown home.
He too is locked inside, short of food and money.
"We have seen one plane come for four students in Wuhan to
evacuate them, just one plane," said Mengistu who is part of a
student association that has asked the Ethiopian embassy to fly
them home.
"Ethiopian airlines haven't stopped flights from China ...
so that is a shot to the gut when you see they are still
continuing flights but cannot take their citizens out."
Ethiopian authorities did not respond to requests for
comment.
A LIGHTING STRIKE
Many African nations are nervous about a little-known virus
breaching their borders.
Ebola killed over 11,000 people in West Africa between 2013
and 2016. An ongoing outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo
has killed over 2,300.
Health officials say those epidemics have prepared countries
to keep coronavirus from spreading and the World Health
Organization says 24 African nations can test for potential
cases. Airport screening and monitoring procedures have already
highlighted possible coronavirus cases across the continent.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention last
week called on governments to bring Africans home. But this has
provided little comfort for those stranded in China or their
families back home who have received little or no communication
from their governments.
Roger-Michel Kemkuining, a Cameroonian, found out that his
student son Pavel had contracted coronavirus from a statement
posted online by Yangzte University, where Pavel was studying.
The statement, seen by Reuters, said the university had
informed the Cameroonian embassy and the parents, but that was
news to Kemkuining.
Cameroon's health ministry spokesman, Clavere Nken,
confirmed that the family had found out via social media. He
said he had since spoken to them by phone. Yangzte University
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pavel is the only known African to test positive for
coronavirus. He has recovered and was released from hospital on
February 10 but remains in isolation, he told Reuters.
For his father, the situation still rankles.
Seeing the statement was "like a lightning strike," he told
Reuters at his home in Yaounde. "I was really dejected."