The region is within weeks of declaring itself EBOLA free after an outbreak that started last year.

The COVID 19 case in Goma is the first of the 17 cases of coronavirus in the DRC not originating in Kinshasa.

Authorities had planned a complicated three-week programme of four-day lockdowns in the capital followed by three days of allowing shopping for food.

This has been cancelled because the danger of unrest and price gouging by food merchants.

Public resistance to the fight against EBOLA has prolonged the second worst epidemic of the hemorrhagic fever in history.

The 3440 confirmed cases killed 2264 people 

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According to the authority closely observing passenger place accidents the DRC is number five on the list of countries with the most crashes.

The two crashes in Goma and Kole left 35 people dead in the DRC which has seen the most passenger plane accidents in Africa since 1945.

The Aviation Safety Network puts this down to the size of the country, its poor road network necessitating aviation access, weak regulation and the use of obsolete aircraft.

The body lists the United States as the country with the most airline accidents this past decade followed by Russia, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia and then the DRC.

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Two people died in the central African countrry in June after returning from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo where a year-long outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic disease has killed more than 1800 people.

Uganda’s trying out a double dose anti-Ebola vaccination on 800 people.

The vaccination was deemed unsuitable in neighboring Congo because there was no way of ensuring patients would pitch up two months later for the second dose.

The EBOLA outbreak in the DRC has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, having spread into the eastern capital Goma which is hard by the frontier with both Uganda and Rwanda.

DRC EBOLA coordinator Jean-Jacques Muyembe reckons it will take two years to end this latest outbreak. 

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The Rwandan action follows the death of second EBOLA patient in the DRC’s eastern capital and confirmation of the fourth infection by the deadly hemorrhagic disease.

Rwanda reopened its border with the DRC at Goma and has yet to explain its action.

President Paul Kagame came under intense pressure from the United Nations which has urged the Congo’s neighbors not to close their borders following the World Health Organization’s declaration of the EBOLA outbreak, that’s killed more than 1800 people, a public health emergency of international concern.

Medical charities helping Congolese health authorities say they fear the outbreak is running out of control. 

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The determination should expedite more money and expertise for fighting the deadly hemorrhagic disease that’s killed more than 1600 people this past year.

The is the fourth time the WHO emergency committee has deliberated on the latest EBOLA outbreak in the DRC which has become the second largest in the world

WHO Director General Teodoro Ghebreyesus expresses disappointment at the financial response from the international community.

Both he and Congolese Health Minister Ali Ilunga urge countries not to use the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern as a pretext for closing borders with the DRC following confirmation of an EBOLA death in the eastern Congolese capital of Goma.

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The victims were being kidnapped by bandits attending the funeral of the EBOLA victim.

Goma is a violent place that sees horrific crimes like child torture and  abductions.

Residents of the  city of more than two million on the banks of Lake Kivu protested against bandits turning an EBOLA victim’s funeral into an anti-government demonstration.

When confronted, the outlaws attempted to kidnap two residents and killed them.

The authorities are hard pressed maintaining law and order in the city now at full stretch dealing with the arrival of an EBOLA outbreak that has already killed more than 1600 people.

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Rescuers save 170 people but hundreds are still missing.

The ferry, believed to be carrying at least 350 people, was carrying many from the village of Inongo to collect salaries in Lokanga.

Congolese waterways are a cheap and popular means of  mass transportation.

Many of the boats are unseaworthy and do not have lifejackets. 

The major hazard is gross over-crowding, normally three or four times over capacity.

Passenger manifests never carry an accurate list of people on board .

Last month dozens died when a ferry from Goma capsized on Lake Kivu bordering Uganda and Rwanda in the Eastern DRC.   

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Provisional results are not expected for five more days and there are fears unofficial  and possible fake claims could compromise security after what was a chaotic poll.

Ahead of voting, opposition activists expressed fears that government would leak early results showing ruling party candidate Emmanuel Shadary in the lead.

However, on early results from polling centres, he trails opposition figures Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi significantly.

The internet has been cut off in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma to prevent any details being posted.

The candidates will, however, find other means of informing their supporters.

The first-past-the-post winner will be announced on January 15, with the DRC’s new president scheduled to be inaugurated three days later.

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Angry voters have embarked on a general strike and taken to the streets of the eastern capital Goma saying the postponement of the poll in there cities is an attempt to rig the election.

President Joseph Kabila says the electoral commission is playing by the book postponing Sunday’s voting in Beni and Butembu in eastern DRC and Yumbi in the west.

He says it’s all about saving lives in the face of ethnic and rebel violence and the spread of the EBOLA virus.

Opposition voters say there was campaigning in these areas – which are all opposition strongholds –  so there’s no reason there shouldn’t be voting.

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Locals in the area fight over the mining of coltan, a vital mineral in making cellphones.

A battalion of soldiers has been despatched to the village of Rubaya, north of the Kivus capital Goma after the weekend attack.

The rebel Mai Mai group, that finances its operations with the proceeds of coltan sales, operates lethally in the area.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege, who was recognized for his work on rape victims in the Congo, also has a campaign urging electronics companies to ensure that they are not using blood minerals in the manufacture of their products.

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