74 young people were arrested by Senegalese police on Tuesday night in a working-class district of the capital Dakar, after they broke a strict night-time curfew meant to curb the coronavirus.
According to a senior police officer, the youngsters were arrested in Medina, a district bordering the city center, between 20:00 and 06:00, when people are expected to be in their homes.
“They were hanging around in the streets,” the police officer said.
Senegalese President Macky Sall ordered the nationwide dusk-to-dawn on March 23 in a bid to slow the spread of the virus in the country, adding to other measures such as a ban on large gatherings.
However, for several days, some youth in Medina have ignored the curfew, emphasizing the difficulty of enforcing blanket measures.
Residents of Medina are seen on images circulating online, defying police officers or celebrating in groups as relatives are released from quarantine.
Senegal has so far been spared a large coronavirus outbreak with authorities tracking down people who have come into contact with known cases.
So far authorities have recorded 412 cases, several of them coming from Medina.
Health authorities are increasingly concerned about a rise in cases that cannot be immediately traced to known infections, an indicator that the outbreak may be bigger than detected.
In addition to the night-time curfew, Senegal has also closed schools, banned travel between citied and required people to wear a mask in public transport and shops.
The country has not implemented a lockdown which would present a major challenge in a poor country where many informal workers live day-to-day.
