In a March 12 letter addressed to government officials, PM Joseph Dion Ngute (pictured) asked all members of the government to “temporarily suspend” their missions abroad as well as those of their collaborators. The head of government specifies that missions can be deployed abroad, but “in case of dire necessity.”

“The heads of diplomatic missions of Cameroon should, more than in the past, be responsible for representing our country at various international meetings that are scheduled abroad,” the PM said.

The PM says the current covid-19 pandemic “is leading states to enact measures to restrict or prohibit the gathering of people and the movement of people from one country to another.”

In the same vein, the Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella, said all embassies, high commissions and consulates of Cameroon abroad should now require a covid-19 test by an approved institution as evidence for any issuance of entry visas to Cameroon.

For his part, the Minister of Public Health, Malachie Manaouda, recommends that any individual who comes from an affected country should be quarantined for 14 days. Despite all these measures, Cameroon officially registered its 5th positive case of coronavirus during the night of 15-16 March 2020.

D.M.