REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN Paix-Travail-Patrie SERVICES DU PREMIER MINISTRE SECRETARIAT GENERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace-Work-Fatherland PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE SECRETARIAT GENERAL
# PRESS RELEASE
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, H.E. Joseph DION NGUTE, this Thursday, 20 August 2020, presided over the weekly meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee in charge of evaluating and monitoring the implementation of Government’s response strategy against the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon.
Three items featured on the agenda, namely:
- the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon;
- the progress report on the work of the public-private sector platform in charge of proposing measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 health crisis;
- the contribution of craftsmen to the local production of masks.
According to the report of the Minister of Public Health, out of the 18,662 cases recorded to date in Cameroon, the number of patients cured is 17,065 against 408 deaths. The cure rate has thus risen from 91.2% last week to 91.4%, while the case-fatality rate remains at 2.1%. Overall, the number of people who test positive for COVID-19 is significantly lower than the number of tests carried out, hence the need to strengthen the implementation of the ongoing response strategy.
Therefore, emphasis will be laid on intensifying mass screening, through the conduct of mobile caravans and the establishment of sampling units within administrations, strengthening the operational capacities of health districts in the search for, and monitoring of infected persons, and greater involvement of Mayors and religious leaders in raising awareness among the population on compliance with safety measures.
With regard to measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 health crisis, the Minister of Finance said that they fall in two categories: general measures applicable to all companies and specific measures per sector of activity.
With regard to general measures, the proposed actions currently being finalised mainly concern the examination of various tax concerns and support for the cash flow of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. As for the specific provisions relating to the situation of the production sectors, incentives have already been adopted for the oleaginous and cosmetics sectors. They will be extended to the other affected sectors.
With regard to the contribution of craftsmen to the local manufacture of masks, the Minister in charge of Handicrafts indicated that the actions carried out made it possible to identify the craftsmen likely to produce the masks, to determine their daily production capacities, to respect the technical specificities of the Cameroonian standard, but above all to shed light on their needs in terms of inputs and factors of production.
To date, some 2,680,000 masks have already been produced by local craftsmen and additional stocks will be placed on the market in the coming weeks, thanks to the allocation from the Special National Solidarity Fund for the fight against COVID-19 and its economic and social impact.
At the end of the discussions, the Head of Government instructed: