Protests erupt in Senegal capital over virus curfew
Youths protesting a coronavirus curfew clashed with
security forces overnight in the Senegalese capital, burning tyres and erecting
barricades as police fired tear gas in Dakar's Ngor district, an AFP
photographer reported.
Incidents were also reported in other parts of the
capital overnight Wednesday.
President Macky Sall called a state of emergency on
Wednesday as he imposed a curfew from 9 pm to 5 am in Dakar and one other
region of the West African country.
Dakar and the Thies region account for nearly 90
percent of Covid-19 infections, according to health authorities.
Sall's cabinet justified the curfew by a surge in
deaths and new infections including severe cases.
The pandemic had abated in Senegal before a second
wave struck.
As elsewhere in Africa, Senegal's numbers are far
from the levels reached in the West, with more than 20,000 cases and 433
deaths.
But the outbreak has put a strain on the poor
country's healthcare system.
