Burkina Faso hospitals worry as second COVID-19 wave hits
- Date: 07-Feb-2021
- Source: Egypt Independent
- Sector:Healthcare
- Country:Middle East
Burkina Faso hospitals worry as second COVID-19 wave hits
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) “” For nearly a year, Ousseni Yanogo thought he was doing everything he could to protect himself from the coronavirus. The 63-year-old retired gendarme diligently wore a mask, washed his hands and stayed a safe distance from other adults.
When he held hands with his granddaughter to sing happy birthday when she turned 6, he never imagined he'd find himself fighting to survive in a coronavirus isolation ward weeks later.
"I didn't know contact (with children) was that dangerous, otherwise I wouldn't have allowed the party to be organized,“ Yanogo said while seated on his bed at the Bogodogo Medical Teaching Hospital in Ouagadougou, the capital of the West African country of roughly 20 million.
After managing to avoid a catastrophic first wave of virus for various reasons, including that its figures were almost surely undercounted, the conflict-riddled nation, like much of Africa, is trying to cope with a much deadlier second wave. Although Burkina Faso's virus figures are still relatively small compared to those in many parts of the world, officials worry that a general lack of understanding and adherence to basic safeguards will make it hard to rein in and could overwhelm the country's already strained health