The Democratic Republic of Congo drew lessons from its fight against Ebola to help it tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, said President Felix Tshisekedi.
President Tshisekedi made the remarks in his pre-recorded virtual address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
He noted that the government took swift action to contain the spread of the virus after the first case was detected in March.
He added that the response brought down the mortality rate in the DR Congo from 10 per cent in the first days of the pandemic to 2.5 per cent today.
By Wednesday, the DR Congo had reported 10,537 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 271 deaths, according to its health ministry.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom also acknowledged DR Congo’s COVID-19 fight which he said was made better by the country’s experience in fighting Ebola.
“The DRC is now better, smarter and faster at responding to Ebola and this is an enduring legacy which is supporting the response to COVID-19 and other outbreaks,” he said.
