200 Soldiers Reportedly Contracts COVID-19 Disease

It has been reported that 208 Senegalese soldiers have tested positive for the dreaded COVID-19 disease.

The development was confirmed in a statement released on Tuesday, September 15 by Senegal’s army and health ministry, Naija News understands.

Naija News learnt that the affected military personnel had just returned from the smallest West-African country, Gambia, where they served in a regional security force. An earlier report has, however, claimed that 100 members of the more than 600-strong contingent had contracted the novel virus.

The affected soldiers have been reportedly camped at an army “hotel” in the village of Guereo, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of the capital Dakar.

Naija News understands that the Senegalese troops were part of a West African force first deployed in January 2017. They were there to assure a smooth transition of power after outgoing president Yahya Jammeh refused to concede defeat at the ballot box to Adama Barrow. Its mission has since been prolonged at Barrow’s request, despite Jammeh’s departure into exile.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC on Tuesday night, September 15 confirmed ninety (90) new cases of Coronavirus disease in Nigeria.