This is vague and incomprehensible after the abolition at the last minute, Monday night, of the speech that President Bah N’Daw was to give on state television, ORTM. The announcement of measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 was expected, the speech had even been recorded.
No justification for this cancellation. Neither the Presidency nor the Ministry of Health, at the request of RFI, responded. However, President Bah N’Daw’s speeches circulated late Monday afternoon, before its broadcast was scheduled for 8 p.m. Is this an angry reaction from the head of state, which we can read on social networks, after these leaks, or rather a turnaround, a last minute change in strategy, who others think so? Impossible to say.
What is certain is that the measures that would be announced were particularly drastic: closure of schools for 28 days, but also restaurants, bars and other “entertainment venues”, closure of markets from 14 night exit from 21:00 … Measures of concern , and in particular economic operators.
This is the case with Bamba Tidiani Kanadji, Secretary General of the Association of Traders on the Boulevard du Peuple, at the Grand Marché in Bamako and Second Vice-President of the National Union of Retailers of Mali: “No, we are not. do not agree with that, because it would be a disaster. Some people do not serve their bread until the afternoon! If we have to take measures of this kind, we need support. There has never been any state support for economic actors, from the first wave until now. If you tell someone to turn off in the afternoon and they have no food … The market is the average malian’s social valve. I really ask the President to think twice. I am not saying that we should not take action, but we must think about the most appropriate measures. We must not take measures that will lead to other difficulties! ”
More than 4,700 cases in the country
Mali, like many countries in the world, is facing a real dilemma in terms of the measures to be taken to fight the coronavirus. The country has registered more than 4,700 cases since the pandemic began, according to the latest official figures. The majority have recovered, but more than 1,300 people are still affected and 156 have died. Highly underestimated figures due to low test capacity
The Malian health authorities warn above all that the spread has accelerated in recent days. Last week, an outbreak was even detected in the presidency, then to the Ministry of Communications. Preventing the situation from deteriorating is therefore a necessity, it is a matter of finding the right balance between health and economic requirements. The measures that were finally not announced yesterday were to be adopted tomorrow in the Council of Ministers. We could therefore quickly be determined on the transitional authorities’ final choice.
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