A man wearing a face mask buys fruits from a street vendor in Dakar, Senegal, May 12, 2020. Senegal on Wednesday reported 110 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number to 2,105 in the country. (Photo by Eddy Peters/Xinhua)
DAKAR, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Senegal on Wednesday reported 110 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number to 2,105 in the country.
Of the 110, 102 are follow-up contact cases and eight community-transmission ones, Marie Khemesse Ngom Ndiaye, director-general of health at the Ministry of Health and Social Action, told a daily briefing on the pandemic.
A total of 920 tests were conducted in the previous 24 hours, she said.
The number of recoveries rose to 782 after the latest addition of 40, Ndiaye said.
Two more deaths related to COVID-19 were registered in Dakar and Touba.
Among the 2,105 confirmed cases across the country, 1,835 are follow-up contact cases, 86 imported ones and 184 community-transmission ones.
Senegal has reported 21 deaths and 782 recovery cases since March 2.
Tuesday evening, Minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr said on national television that "many of our specialists estimate that the peak is already there. But, by prudence, we prefer to keep monitoring."
President Macky Sall announced on Monday evening the easing of some of the COVID-19 restrictions, but said the government is preparing for the virus to circulate in the country "until August, or even September."
Sall said the curfew hours will be shortened to 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting from May 12, instead of the current 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
All markets and other businesses are allowed to resume their normal opening hours, except one day per week when they have to be closed for disinfection and sanitizing.
Senegal has since March 20 suspended all international flights till at least May 31. President Sall extended the state of emergency and dusk-to-dawn curfew, which was declared on March 24, to June 2.
West Africa, now with more than 20,000 cases, has been the region most affected by COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa, since Nigeria reported its first confirmed case on Feb. 27.
