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A doctor testing samples on a suspected COVID-19 in Arusha Tanzania. PHOTO| BurundiTimes
Burundians living in diaspora raise concern over Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) which is fast spreading all over the world and claiming thousands of lives.
‘‘I was scared when one of my friends was put in quarantine because she had tested positive for the virus… today we cannot go out to buy what we need as the main University gates remain closed since the outbreak,” said a Burundian student studing at Beihang University in the Chinese capital Beijing.
The COVID-19 pandemic which started in China has now spread worldwide with Greece recording one death and 190 cases being confirmed according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“We depend on seasonal jobs especially now that people are highly expected to be hired on the coming summer jobs (hotels, restaurants and cafés) because Greece is known as a holiday destination for all EU holiday makers. If Greece follows other EU members and shuts down all public gatherings over the fear or wide spread of this corona virus, we will all be badly affected because of lack of jobs which help us to earn a living,” said Théodore Ndikumana a Burundian living in Greece.
At least 5393 deaths have been recorded due to the COVID-19 with over 140 thousand cases, and 68,288 people have recovered from the virus according to the the WHO.
“If my company is affected, I will lose my job. As I am on Visa, I might become out of status depending on how long I stay unemployed. However I am hoping it stops as soon as possible,” said one of the Burundians living in the USA.
A Burundian student at Dalhousie University located in Halifax, Toronto in Canada says he has heard no report of a Burundian infected by the virus in the country as the wife of the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was recently tested positive.
“Today, we have been making stocks of food in case this virus keeps on spreading so we can survive at least some days ahead until the medicine for this virus is found,” he added.
He said that he was worried to miss part time jobs which usually helps them to survive on a daily basis since the loan they get from the government cannot meet their needs.
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the disease started spreading globally since 2019 resulting to the 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic.