DRC extended lockdown could go past May 10

Kinshasa,

The state of health emergency decreed by the Congolese government on March 24 will be extended, the DRC Council of Ministers announced on Friday night.

After holding a meeting via video link on Friday, President Félix Tshisekedi’s government said the state of emergency will be prolonged though a dispatch did not specify by how long.

In Congolese law, a state of emergency runs for a minimum of 30 days and can be extended by another 15 days.  

It means that the lockdown announced to prevent the spread of Covid-19 could be extended up to May 10.

Government spokesperson Jolino Makelele said "the draft ordinance on additional measures necessary to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic has also been adopted” suggesting the extension will have a basis in law.

 According to the latest figures from the National Biomedical Research Institute, the coronavirus pandemic has already infected 307 people in five provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Covid-19 has also killed 25 people. And to date, only 26 people have been declared cured of this disease.

 The Council of Ministers made the decision even as flooding hit provinces of South Kivu, Haut-Lomami, Maniema and Tanganyika following heavy rains, causing deaths and extensive property damage.

Tshisekedi said his administration will do everything “to come to the aid of the affected populations.".

 He said the government "to send a strong multi-sectoral government delegation to the scene, to better understand the different implications of this tragedy and to prepare a report as comprehensive as possible.”