Christian Bassogog donates $16 000 to Cameroonians stranded in coronavirus-hit China

Cape Town - Cameroon football star Christian Bassogog has announced that he will donate 10m CFA Francs ($16,000) to Cameroonian students living in areas struck by the deadly coronavirus in China.

According to Journal du Cameroun, Cameroon's embassy in China said there were close to 300 Cameroonians, mainly students, living in Hubei Province, considered the epicentre of the Coronavirus epidemic.

Of those, around 200 are currently in the city of Wuhan, which has been under quarantine since 23 January.

The Cameroon’s Indomitable Lion’s striker, had a meeting with Cameroon's minister delegate of external relations in charge of the Commonwealth. He said the money is to help Cameroonian nationals living in China, especially the students.

His donation comes after President Paul Biya ordered that 50m CFA Francs ($82,000 or £65,000) be made available to the country's embassy in Beijing, to provide assistance to Cameroonians living in the affected areas.

Bassogog, who burst into recognition after being named the Player of the Tournament at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations as Cameroon won the title, said he hoped his donation would spur more Cameroonian athletes to pay attention to the medical crisis in China.

Earlier this month, a Cameroonian student Kem Senou Pavel Daryl, was discovered to have contracted the disease in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

After two weeks of treatment, the 21-year-old showed no trace of the ailment, becoming the first African person known to be infected with the deadly Coronavirus and the first to recover.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation on Wednesday reported an increase in the death toll from Coronavirus outside China.

Outside China, there were 2,790 cases in 37 countries, and 44 deaths, Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. 

China has reported 78,190 cases to WHO, including 2,718 deaths.

African News Agency (ANA)