Preventing the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has dominated the MINUSCA agenda for weeks and will continue in the next. Its regional office consequently answered the Birao sub-prefect’s call to take action and co-ordinate efforts on putting in place preventive measures against COVID-19 in the Vakaga prefecture.

The head of office Bessan Vikou, Zambian contingent commander Lieutenant-colonel Teddy Tembo and OCHA coordinator José Toundou were among the many actors who took part in the meeting convened to address the issue at hand.

The sub-prefect, Zakariah Ramadan, explained that Vakaga Prefecture shares its borders with Sudan and Chad, highlighting that the uncontrolled movement of people at these frontier points could be a source of high risk for the region if no necessary preventive measures were immediately agreed upon and fully implemented.

A plan was drawn up to put a sensitization committee in place to raise the population’s awareness on the Coronavirus and fully prepare them for the strict respect of the envisaged preventive measures and government’s instructions.

The MINUSCA head of office proposed that the government tighten up measures to control the movement of people across the borders and, furthermore, urged the sensitization team to observe all preventive measures themselves, as they interact with the population.