A security guard asks a woman to put on a mask in Dakar, Senegal, on April 21, 2020. Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action reported on Tuesday 35 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bring the total number of confirmed cases to 412 in the country. (Photo by Eddy Peters/Xinhua)
DAKAR, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action reported on Tuesday 35 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bring the total number of confirmed cases to 412 in the country.
Among the 466 virological examinations carried out, 35 came back positive, including 34 follow-up contact cases and one case of community transmission, Senegalese Director General of Public Health Doctor Marie Khemesse Ngom Ndiaye said during the daily COVID-19 briefing.
According to her, seven more patients tested negative after treatments and were declared cured, and the clinical condition of other patients hospitalized are "stable and there is no severe case".
Among the total confirmed cases, 284 are close contacts cases, 85 are imported ones and 43 are due to community transmission. Five patients died of COVID-19 and one was evacuated back to France.
Facing the increasing number of community transmission cases, Senegalese Minister of the Interior, Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, issued Sunday evening a decree ordering the mandatory wearing of protective masks in certain public places. The Senegalese authorities also opened Sunday the first COVID-19 screening camp in the large suburbs of Dakar.
Senegalese president Macky Sall extended the current state of emergency in a presidential decree on April 4, along with the dusk-to-dawn curfew for 30 days, till May 4.
The country has isolated itself since March 20 midnight when all its international passenger flights were suspended.
