AU Commission chair tests negative for COVID-19

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - The head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has tested negative for the coronavirus, he announced on Saturday.

Mahamat on Friday disclosed that one of his staffers, a 72-year-old Mauritanian, tested positive for the virus, known as COVID-19, and was being treated in Ethiopia.

The Mauritanian had entered Ethiopia from the Republic of Congo on March 14.

“My test came in negative but I will remain in isolation for the coming 14 days,” said Mahamat on Twitter.

Until last Friday, only one AU staff member tested positive, but now the chairperson and his top aides, who were in contact with the Mauritanian patient, were being quarantined.

According to African Diseases Prevention and Control (CDC) on Friday, a total number of positive cases in Africa has reached 3,426, with 19 deaths.

COVID-19 has affected 46 of the 55 nations in the continent, the CDC said.

South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria are the worst hit countries in Africa.