BISSAU, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau reported 17 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to 1,195.
The health authorties of Guinea-Bissau said the positive cases were found out of 94 tests, maximum capacity of the national lab, said Dionisio Cumba, coordinator of the Center for Emergency Health Operations (COES) at a daily briefing.
Cumba indicated that the national lab could not carry out any test in the past two days due to lack of lab materials, explaining that the third donation of medical equipment, including testing kits, from the Chinese foundations Jack Ma and Alibaba has not yet been distributed to the lab.
Receiving the donation from China on Monday, Cumba said the donation would allow the national laboratory to process and analyze COVID-19 infection tests more quickly.
The government of Guinea-Bissau announced on Tuesday to ease certain COVID-19 restrictions under some strict conditions, including the reopening of borders and the authorization of movement for public transport.
According to the government, the curfew is maintained, but people can now go out for one hour between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. local time. All cafes, restaurants and bakeries can only do take-aways.
Bissau-Guinean President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has extended the state of emergency for another 15 days until June 10.
So far Guinea-Bissau has reported 1,195 confirmed cases, including 7 deaths and 42 recoveries. Enditem
