According to Public Health Minister, Dr. Manaouda Malachie, the baby was delivered at 11:12 p.m. Saturday, April 4, 2020 by a team of medics led by Dr. Yaneu.

“We welcomed this 11:12 pm, the first baby born to covid-19 positive mother at the central hospital of Yaoundé. Kudos to Dr. Yaneu and his team for this feat in an isolation unit,” Minister Malachie tweeted Sunday afternoon.

As at Saturday night, Cameroon had registered 555 cases of the novel coronavirus including nine deaths and 17 recoveries. 46 new cases were announced Saturday, a day after 203 new cases were confirmed.

Public Health Minister Manaouda Malachie said the country’s active case finding strategy is starting to pay off, reason why more tests are being carried out.

Some 800 tests were conducted with the majority of positive cases being those who recently returned to the country, the Minister announced Friday. Though most of them are positive but asymptomatic, they have been placed on treatment, taking Cameroon’s coronavirus tally sheets to 555 cases, 17 cured and 9 deaths as at press time.

With regards to the focus on active case finding, Minister Malachie said that action in the field is perceptible with the launch of the massive testing campaign in Douala, involving community health workers, who go round the quarters to get potentially positive cases.

“In this connection, I would like to point out that during this week we took samples from eight hundred people who were considered to be suspect cases. The result of this large-scale sampling and testing approach has so far enabled us to get from the community more than 306 positive cases, which, although asymptomatic, have a high potential for contamination,” said the Public Health Minister.

“The Minister says each and every Cameroonian can and must contribute to block the way to COVID-19, or at least prevent its spread. In order to do so, everyone must strictly adhere to the barrier measures enacted by the Government.

“Moreover, each of us must avoid spreading rumours or misinformation that could create confusion and panic in the minds of our brothers and sisters. It is also necessary to rigorously apply the usual hygiene rules of such as: regularly wash hands with clean running water and soap or use an alcohol-based solution; covering your nose and mouth with a handkerchief when coughing, sneezing or using a bent elbow; respecting social distancing measures.

“However, in order to keep up the fight against COVID-19, we encourage people to limit travelling as much as possible and make arrangements to cover their mouth and nose each time we leave. In other words, it would be advisable to stay at home.”