No fewer than 100 Senegalese soldiers have contracted the novel coronavirus.
The soldiers, according to reports, were on a peacekeeping mission in The Gambia.
The contingent of 600 soldiers were returning home from their mission when the 100 were discovered to be infected.
They have been quarantined in Toubacouta, on Senegalese territory near the border with The Gambia, as a precautionary measure.
Those who tested positive are asymptomatic. More tests are being done.
The peacekeeping mission in The Gambia, deployed by regional bloc Ecowas in 2012, mainly consists of Senegalese soldiers.
It was deployed to force former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to hand over power to his elected successor Adama Barrow and to assist the new Gambian administration to address security challenges.
The mission’s mandate was extended during the last Ecowas meeting at the request of President Barrow.
Senegal recorded its coronavirus case on March 2, 2020, making it the second Sub-Saharan country after Nigeria. Less than two weeks later, Senegal banned public gatherings, imposed travel restrictions and closed down schools.
In April, Senegal began work on a $1 testing kit that deliver results in ten minutes. By the following month, scientists in Dakar had begun the development of $160 ventilators while other countries were looking for handouts. That same month, engineers in the country created Dr Car, a robot which delivers medicine and food to patients without contact with health workers.
So far, Senegal has only recorded 14,193 cases and 293 deaths.
