By TOM CHIAHEMEN, Abuja –
The Authority of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government will be holding an Extraordinary Session through video-conference on April 23.
The extraordinary meeting, scheduled to start at 10:00am Universal Time, is coming amid growing concerns over the increasing number of confirmed cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in West Africa, reported to be close to 6,000 as at today.
Three of the 15-member countries in the region alone account for 2,840 confirmed cases, with Ghana recording 1,042 cases and nine deaths; Nigeria – 782 cases and 25 deaths and; Ivory Coast – 916 cases and 13 deaths.
According to a statement from the communications directorate of the Commission on Wednesday, the Heads of State will be discussing the situation and impact of the in the pandemic in ECOWAS Region.
Preceding this Extraordinary Summit, the Ministers in Charge of Finance and the Governors of Central Banks from the Region held a virtual Extraordinary Session on April 21, 2020 on the COVID-19 situation.
To address the COVID-19 Situation in the Region, ECOWAS had immediately made available financial support, in addition to assistance from international partners, for the purchase of medical supplies and equipment essential for the fight against the pandemic.
As of April 20, 2020, according to the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) data, the 15 Member States have recorded 5,474 confirmed cases, 1,567 recovered, 140 deaths, and 3,767 active cases.
ECOWAS reaffirms its solidarity with Member States and welcomes all the measures already taken to contain the spread of the pandemic and care for the sick.
Thursday’s meeting is expected to commence with an opening statement by His Excellency, Issoufou Mahamadou, President of Niger Republic and Chairman, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State, according to the draft agenda sighted by NATIONAL ACCORD.
Chairperson of the ECOWAS, Jean Claude Kassi Boru will give a statement, detailing the situation and impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the ECOWAS region, while the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and Sahel (UNCOWAS), Dr. Muhamed Ibn Chambers, who also make a statement.
Between April 1 and April 22, 2020 – a matter of 21 days – the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the West African region rose from 1,086 to about 6,000.
This rapid increase in the COVID-19 cases may not be surprising going by the concern expressed by the Director-General of WAHO, Prof. Stanley Okolo about the weak capacities of most ECOWAS states to fight the novell disease.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja February 17, Prof. Okolo noted that only six out of the 15-member countries: Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d’ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal, had the capacity to diagnose and contain the virus.
At the time, each the six countries had at least one suspected cases that tested negative at the time.
Okolo said the West African region would require the sum of 50 million dollars to strengthen the capacity of member states, especially weak countries that lacked capacity to diagnose or contain COVID-19.
Early this month, Okolo announced that a total of 30,000 diagnostic testing kits, 10,000 personal protection equipment (PPE) and 50,000 specimen transportation kits had been distributed by WAHO to the 15 ECOWAS member-states since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
“These were the first testing kits received by most of our countries, and we are also currently distributing some medications to Member States. Many States have received their allocation of diagnostic kits, but all the other support are expected to be delivered to the countries by DHL between 30 March and 7 April,” he said during a media teleconference on April 1.
He disclosed that in addition, “we are sourcing for ventilators which are equipment for supporting the breathing of severely ill patients in hospitals to distribute to countries. All these efforts are to supplement what individual countries are doing by themselves.”
“All these are meant to complement efforts by the individual member states in controlling the spread of the pandemic,” he explained.
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