How Caritas Congo Personnel are Helping Minimize COVID-19 Infections

For the aged people who are at a higher risk of contracting the disease, Caritas Congo officials say they are ensuring that prevention messages reach care homes and that the elderly have the means to prevent the spread of the virus.

To boost the immunity of the elderly and help them stay healthy, Caritas Congo personnel are also providing daily food rations worth 2,100 calories.

Caritas Congo has also partnered with the medical department of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa to donate a respirator, oxygen, infrared thermometers and other equipment to Kikimi Hospital in the nation’s capital, Kinshasa.

The Central African nation has reported at least 7,432 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 182 related deaths; 3,226 have recovered from the virus.

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The COVID-19 response, Caritas Congo officials say, “builds on what communities have and what they’ve learnt from Ebola.”

“In the cities in the east, such as Goma, Butembo, Bunia, Beni, Bukavu, there were already handwashing stations, prevention posters etc., which will continue to be useful in the current pandemic while still being useful against Ebola, which can re-emerge at any time,” COVID-19 focal point person for Caritas Congo, Emmanuelle Bofoe has been quoted as saying.

He adds, “Our experience with Ebola has helped a lot because the actions to stop the spread of COVID-19 are similar to the ones to stop Ebola, but with a greater focus on mask wearing, confinement and social distancing.” 

Meanwhile, the personnel of Caritas Niger are focusing on COVID-19 prevention efforts by ensuring “parishes, communities, health centers and schools have the means to protect themselves against the pandemic through high standards of hand hygiene.”

In a July 7 report published by Caritas Internationalis, officials of the humanitarian arm of Catholic Bishops in Niger say there are challenges to keeping hands clean in a country, which is “mostly desert and where clean water is scarce."

They add, “Besides, towns and cities are overcrowded and people migrate a lot internally and externally for work, raising the possibility of spreading infections.”

The West African nation has recorded at least 1,093 COVID-19 cases, 68 related deaths and 968 recoveries from the virus.

Currently, Caritas Niger officials are concentrating their prevention efforts in the Archdiocese of Niamey and the Diocese of Maradi, which fall in the largest and second largest cities in the West African nation respectively.

In their recent initiative, Caritas Niger personnel donated to Mariana school in the Archdiocese of Niamey “20 handwashing stations, 156 bottles of hand sanitizers, 200 litres of liquid soap and 3,000 masks,” the leadership of Caritas Niger reported July 5.

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