Guinea-Bissau reports first death from coronavirus

Guinea-Bissau on Sunday reported its first coronavirus death and extended its state of emergency.

The unstable country of 1.8 million people, poor even by African standards, has 53 officially-confirmed cases of virus infection.

"We have registered our first death," Tumani Balde, spokesman for the interministerial commission for the fight against Covid-19, told AFP.

He gave no details.

Guinea-Bissau's coronavirus toll is substantially lower than that of its neighbours Senegal, which has reported 671 cases and eight deaths, and Guinea, with 996 cases and seven deaths.

Guinea-Bissau's self-proclaimed president Umaro Sissoco Embalo said on Sunday "we shouldn't delude ourselves because we are far from being able to say that we are in total control of the situation" as he extended the state of emergency, first imposed on March 28, by another two weeks.

The government has ordered everybody to stay at home, except to go shopping in the morning, but widespread poverty makes it difficult for the population to comply.

© 2020 AFP