Frontline heroes battle disease in Rwanda

Rwanda’s female community health workers have been beating back malaria—can they do the same for Covid-19? By Maggie Andresen It’s a quiet morning just after sunrise in southern Rwanda, when a knock brings Uwinogoye Lucie to her door. Her neighbor Mukundente Magnifique stands on the doorstep, young son in tow. Two-year-old Serge is feverish and […]

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Rwanda opts for pool testing in response to COVID-19

People line up for the bus in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo credit: Plaisir Muzogeye Kigali’s markets are the heart of Rwanda’s capital; shoppers throng between stalls, and tables are piled high with everything from carrots to jewelry. People from all over the city and country mill through these markets, and officials fear that they are where […]

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What coronavirus genomes can tell us about the pandemic—and science—in Africa

As the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spreads across the world, it mutates, and scientists can track these mutations by sequencing viruses isolated from patients. These viral genomes can not only show how the virus moves through a population; it can also inform efforts to find a cure, for example by showing whether some mutations are more […]

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Initiative offers help for community health as Egypt battles coronavirus

Essayed Lotfy, a frail-looking 46-year-old baker from Cairo, faces difficult choices if he’s to continue making a living in his city which has been besieged by the new coronavirus for the past few weeks. “I’m worried if I stay home, we’ll run out of money and food. But when I go out, I’m always terrified […]

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Can teaching in Ghana carry on virtually as the pandemic rages?

On 15 March 2020, Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo ordered the immediate closure of all educational institutions in Ghana in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. In the same speech, he tasked the country’s education and communication ministries to roll out distance learning to salvage the academic year.  Virtual means are […]

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