The COVID-19 pandemic in Cape Verde is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by

severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

(). The virus was confirmed to have reached Cape Verde in March 2020. __TOC__

Background

On 12 January 2020, the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO) confirmed that a

novel coronavirus Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused by ...

was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. The

case fatality ratio In epidemiology, case fatality rate (CFR) – or sometimes more accurately case-fatality risk – is the proportion of people diagnosed with a certain disease, who end up dying of it. Unlike a disease's mortality rate, the CFR does not take int ...

for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. Model-based simulations for Cape Verde suggest that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number ''R_t'' has been lower than 1.0 since August 2021.

Timeline

March 2020

* On 20 March, the first case of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

in the country was confirmed, being a 62-year-old foreigner from the United Kingdom. * Two more cases were confirmed the following day on 21 March. Both cases were tourists, one from the Netherlands, aged 60, and one from United Kingdom, aged 62. These two cases and the previous one were all on Boa Vista island before testing positive. The first death was announced on 24 March, regarding the first confirmed case in Cape Verde. * On 25 March, a fourth case was confirmed, a 43-year-old national citizen who had returned from Europe, being the first case detected in the country's capital, Praia, on

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

island. On the following day, 26 March, Cape Verde's Health minister announced that the man's wife had also tested positive, thus being the first reported local transmission. * Of the five confirmed cases in March, by the end of the month one person had died while four remained active cases.

Subsequent cases

* 2020 cases There were 11,793 confirmed cases in 2020. 11,530 patients recovered while 112 persons died. At the end of 2020 there were 151 active cases. * 2021 cases Cape Verde's vaccination campaign began on 19 March. There were 30,670 confirmed cases in 2021, bringing the total number of cases to 42,463. 26,782 patients recovered in 2021 while 240 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 351. At the end of 2021 there were 3,773 active cases. Modelling by WHO's Regional Office for Africa suggests that due to under-reporting, the true number of infections by the end of 2021 was around 0.3 million while the true number of COVID-19 deaths was around 383. * 2022 cases Samples taken between May and October showed that the rapidly spreading BA.5.2.1.7 variant was present in Cape Verde. There were 20,740 confirmed cases in 2022, bringing the total number of cases to 63,203. 24,421 patients recovered in 2022 while 58 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 410. At the end of 2022 there were 3 active cases. * 2023 cases There were 1,274 confirmed cases in 2023, bringing the total number of cases to 64,477. Seven persons died, bringing the total death toll to 417.

Statistics

Confirmed new cases per day

Confirmed deaths per day

Prevention

Since 16 March tests are being made in Cape Verde rather than abroad, by the Laboratório de Virologia de Cabo Verde, in Praia. On 17 March, as a contingency measure, Prime Minister

José Ulisses Correia e Silva José Ulisses de Pina Correia e Silva () (born 4 June 1962) is a Cape Verdean businessman and politician who has been Prime Minister of Cape Verde since 22 April 2016. He took office after his party, the Movement for Democracy, won the 20 March ...

announced a three-week suspension of all incoming flights from the US,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and all

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an countries affected by the coronavirus. Exceptions were made for cargo flights and flights for foreign citizens wishing to return home. The ban also applies to the docking of

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

s, sailing ships and landing from passengers or crew from cargo ships or fishing ships. More exceptional measures were taken the day after, and the contingency level was raised on 27 March.

Cabo Verde Airlines Cabo Verde Airlines is an international airline based in Cape Verde. It connects three continents with non-stop flights from their hub at Amílcar Cabral International Airport on Sal Island. History Cabo Verde Airlines was established in 1958. ...

had already taken the decision to suspend flights. Since 28 February the flights to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

(Italy) are suspended. On 6 March, the flights to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

(Nigeria),

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

(Brazil) and

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

(United States) were also suspended. On 17 March, per to the Government's decision, Cabo Verde Airlines suspended all of its routes. On March 28, for the first time in its history, a state of emergency was declared in Cape Verde, implementing a set of measures.Boletim Oficial da República de Cabo Verde — Suplemento, I Série, Número 38
/ref>

References

External links

Instituto Nacional de Saúde Pública
- Cape Verde's Public Health National Institute
COVID 19 — Corona Vírus
- Official site about COVID-19 in Cape Verde
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dashboard on Covid-19

COVID-19 Africa Open Data Project Dashboard

West African Health Organization COVID-19 Dashboard

WHO COVID-19 Dashboard
{{COVID-19 pandemic