Mali said on Thursday that an upcoming parliamentary poll long delayed by insecurity would go ahead, despite coronavirus fears.

The country is grappling with a jihadist conflict that first broke out in the country in 2012, having caused thousands of civilian and military deaths since.

It has yet to detect a positive coronavirus case, but the government has suspended flights from affected countries and closed schools in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cisse said the election will go ahead “for questions of survival of the nation and continuity of the state”.

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The first round of voting is scheduled for March 29, and the second on April 19.

Cisse added that the election will take place “whether or not there is a case” of coronavirus.

The elections have been postponed several times since 2018 because of the security crisis gripping the poor West African state.

In another news, Nigerian megacity. Lagos State’s Commissioner for Health explained that  “19 people were tested for COVID 19  yesterday (Wednesday)  in Lagos and four out of them  tested positive to the virus and had been isolated for treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba area of Lagos.”

Abayomi further said the first of the four new cases who tested positive to the disease was a contact of the third case,  the woman who came from the UK some days ago and tested positive. He said the second new case was a female who returned from France on the 14th of March on a Turkish airline TK 1830.

[AFP and Our Reporter]

Vanguard News Nigeria.