Two months after government started to ease lockdown with President Andry Rajoelina launching a local herbal concoction he claimed prevents and cures the novel coronavirus, Madagascar has placed its capital Antananarivo under a fresh full lockdown. This is after the country registered 216 new cases on Saturday.
“The Analamanga region (under which the capital is situated) is returning to full lockdown,” the office of the president said in a statement.
It added; “Only one person per household is allowed to go out into the street between 6:00 am (0400 GMT) and 12:00 pm (1000 GMT).”
All government meetings will now be held via video conferencing, while court hearings have been suspended.
Madagascar has in recent days seen a very high rise in daily number of cases. By Sunday the country had a cumulative 2,728 cases, including 29 deaths.
In April, President Rajoelina launched a local herbal concoction which he claimed prevents and cures coronavirus. Rajoelina further promoted the brew for export, saying it is the country’s “green gold” which will “change history”.
However, World Health Organisation has not yet validated the ‘cure.’