DAKAR, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Actions registered 164 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 5,639 in the country.
According to the spokesperson of the ministry Alyose Waly Diouf, a total of 1,617 tested were carried out in the last 24 hours in different labs, among which 164 returned positive, including 148 follow-up contact cases and 16 community transmission ones.
The number of patients discharged from hospitals increased by 72, the total number of recoveries reaching 3,788 since the outbreak of the pandemic in Senegal on March 2, Diouf said, adding that the number of patients in the intensive care unit remains at 17.
The death toll related to COVID-19 rose to 79 with three additional deaths on Thursday.
Senegalese Ministry of Finance and Budget revealed on Friday that the Economic and Social Resilience Program (PRES), initiated to deal with the impact of COVID-19, has transferred some 332.13 billion Francs CFA (about 567 millions U.S. dollars) to relevant companies and sectors by Wednesday.
To ease the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations and businesses, Senegalese president Macky Sall set up the Economic and Social Resilience Program (PRES), financed by the Response Fund against the impact of COVID-19, endowed with 1,000 billion CFA francs.
Also on Friday, Jiangsu Construction Engieering Group donated medical supplies to Senegal's Chinese-aided Children Hospital of Diamniadio where a team of Chinese technicians are on a maintenance mission. The donation aims to help the hospital overcome its shortage of essential medical supplies.
Senegalese government has eased some restrictive measures imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, but the country is still in state of emergency, and all scheduled international air travels are suspended until June 30 to and out of Senegal. Enditem
