Senegal's Coronavirus-related deaths exceed 800 - Health Ministry

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Senegal topped 800 with 13 additional death cases registered in the past 24 hours, the Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action announced Sunday.

According to the daily briefing sheet, a total of 808 patients lost their lives to COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic in Senegal on March 2, 2020.

Also on Sunday, 297 new infections were detected in the past 24 hours, including 146 follow-up contact cases and 151 community transmission ones.

The number of patients declared cured during the same period reached 227, while 54 patients are still in critical conditions.

On Saturday, Senegalese Interior Minister, Antoine Felix Diome announced the extension of the "state of sanitary catastrophe" and curfew in the regions of Dakar and Thies, until March 20, in order to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

The nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination campaign will kick off on Feb. 23 in Senegal with the 200,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccines that arrived late Wednesday.

Senegal reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 2, 2020, a French national returning from holidays in Europe. So far, the country has recorded 32,927 positive cases, including 27,134 recoveries and 808 deaths.