COVID-19: AU Commission chairman under quarantine

ANKARA (AA) - African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat announced Friday he is under quarantine after one of his staff members tested positive for the new coronavirus.

“I can confirm that one of my collaborators in my Office at the African Union Commission has tested positive for COVID-19. The staff member is in a stable condition.

“As a precautionary measure, I am under quarantine as are some other collaborators in my Office,” Mahamat tweeted.

This came after the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) announced earlier Friday that one of its staff members tested positive for the contagious disease.

“The UN in Somalia confirms that an employee of a commercial contractor engaged by the UN has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19),” the UNSOM said in a press release.

“The contractor has been in quarantine for eight days prior to diagnosis and medical professionals are interviewing the individual to trace contact with the individual,” it added.

“The UN, through the local office of the World Health Organization has been working with the Somali authorities to prepare the country’s health systems to contain and mitigate any outbreak of the pandemic in Somalia,” read the statement.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, in December, the virus has spread to at least 176 countries and regions, according to data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

There have been over 553,200 cases worldwide, with more than 25,000 deaths and over 127,500 recoveries.