Despite the ongoing state of emergency in Cote d’Ivoire, Ivorians happen to have relaxed covid-19 safety rules. Authorities reinstated the law in light of the surging coronavirus cases in the country’s capital. And they are hoping to relax the measures only when the numbers decline.
No COVID-19
Ivorians have decided to embark on normalcy despite the virus still being a global pandemic. While the whole world continues to abide by corona safety rules, many locals in Ivory Coast have shunned mandatory covid regulations such as masking, social distancing, and sanitizing. Worry and unrest are no more, as people are going about their daily activities without fear.
During an interview with Africanews, Ossene Quattara, a resident of Abidjan, shares his observations on how people react to the virus. He says that when the virus first hit the country, everyone was concerned. People were wearing masks, sanitizing, and social distancing. No one wanted to contract the virus. However, to date, things had changed, more so when the number of cases started declining. Some people even choose to believe that the virus does not exist.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, as it was a new disease, people were a bit scared and were following the restrictive measures (to avoid the virus), but as soon as people saw that the number of cases was falling, they stopped following the measures. What has been happening now is that the number of cases has increased.”
Also, in a tweet, an Ivorian national stated that while Ivorians were busy worrying about the virus, Americans played. And now that the country is safe and has no covid, Ivorians should not worry about them.
Coronavirus is Not Over
Lack of information has costed many parts of the world, especially the rural areas. Most inhabitants of such regions believe that COVID-19 is a scam, while some think that it is over. Some say that because they have not seen anyone contract it, they do not believe it exists. Ivory Coast is no exception, as most locals believe that the virus is no more.
On Wednesday, Cote d’Ivoire confirmed that it had recorded a total of 31000 coronavirus cases and 179 deaths. That is after it reported new cases when civilians decided to relax covid safety measures. The state authorities continued to urge citizens to keep safe amid the second wave of infections, hoping to prevent a tremendous surge.
Dr. Milad El-Amine, an Ivorian otorhinolaryngologist and director of a local private clinic, seemed skeptical while giving her opinion on the virus.
“Is it that Africa will be spared? What has to be done, so Africa is not affected by this second wave of the pandemic? As we did in the beginning, it is necessary to insist and insist again on sanitary measures. Unfortunately, in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and other African countries, after prolonged mask-wearing, there is a slackening of sanitary measures.”
Meanwhile, the West African state expects to receive its first shipment of vaccines this month. It also plans to work with other companies to acquire more vaccine batches to kick off its immunization campaigns in March.
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