COVID-19 pandemic in São Tomé and Príncipe explained

COVID-19 pandemic in São Tomé and Príncipe
Map1:	COVID-19 Outbreak in São Tomé and Príncipe by islands.svg
Legend1:	Map of the COVID-19 outbreak in São Tomé and Príncipe by islands as of 12 May 2021.-->
Disease:	COVID-19
Virus Strain:	SARS-CoV-2
Location:	São Tomé and Príncipe
Arrival Date:	12 April 2020
Website:	covid.ms.gov.st Government of São Tomé and Príncipe via Facebook
Vaccinations:	Updated :

The COVID-19 pandemic in São Tomé and Príncipe is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 . The virus was confirmed to have reached São Tomé and Príncipe on 6 April 2020. The first death was recorded on 30 April.

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.^{[1] [2]}

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,^{[3] [4]} but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.^{[5] [3]} Model-based simulations indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R_t of São Tomé and Príncipe was below 1.0 in May and June 2020 but has since increased to around 1.^[6]

Timeline

April to June 2020

• On 6 April, the first four cases in the country were confirmed.^[7]
• On 30 April, the first death was reported. At the time, São Tomé and Príncipe had 16 cases, four of which had recovered and one of which had died.^[8] The deceased was a 55-year-old man living in Cantalago.^[9] There were 11 active cases.
• In May there were 279 new cases and 9 deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 295 and the death toll to 10.^[10]
• In June there were 99 new cases and one death, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 394 and the death toll to 11.^[11]

July to September 2020

• There were 477 new cases and four deaths in July, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 871 and the death toll to 15. There were 78 active cases at the end of the month.^[12]
• There were 25 new cases in August, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 896. The death toll remained unchanged. There were 30 active cases at the end of the month.^[13]
• There were 15 new cases in September, bringing the total number of cases to 911. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 885, leaving 11 active cases at the end of the month.^[14]

October to December 2020

• There were 34 new cases in October, bringing the total number of cases to 945. The death toll increased to 16. The number of recovered patients increased to 904, leaving 25 active cases at the end of the month.^[15]
• There were 46 new cases in November, bringing the total number of cases to 991. The death toll rose to 17. The number of recovered patients increased to 933, leaving 41 active cases at the end of the month.^[16]
• There were 23 new cases in December, taking the total number of cases to 1014. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 971, leaving 26 active cases at the end of the month.^[17]

2021

• Vaccinations started on 15 March, initially with 24,000 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine obtained through COVAX.^[18]
• There were 2,883 confirmed cases in 2021, bringing the total number of cases to 3,897. 2,707 patients recovered in 2021 while 40 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 57. At the end of 2021 there were 162 active cases.^[19]
• Modelling by the Regional WHO Office for Africa suggests that due to under-reporting, the true cumulative number of infections by the end of 2021 was around one hundred thousand, and that the true number of COVID-19 deaths was around 76.^[20]

2022

• There were 2,382 confirmed cases in 2022, bringing the total number of cases to 6,279. 2,524 patients recovered in 2022 while 20 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 77. At the end of 2022 there were no active cases.^[21]

2023

• There were 466 confirmed cases in 2023, bringing the total number of cases to 6,745. 461 patients recovered in 2023 while 3 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 80. At the end of 2023 there were 2 active cases.^[22]

Statistics

Confirmed deaths per day

Prevention

In order to prevent the spread of the virus, the government has put in place various travel restrictions and quarantining measures.^[23]

Economic impact

Tourism accounts for more than 20% of employment in the country, and with activity in the sector coming to a near-halt, the economic impact has been severe.^[24]

Cases by islands

Island	Cases	Deaths	Recovered
Principe	408	4	404
São Tomé	5,540	69	5,468
2/2	5,948	73	5,872
Last update 16 April 2022^[25]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory

Notes and References

1. Web site: Novel Coronavirus Information Center . Elsevier . Elsevier Connect. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200130171622/https://www.elsevier.com/connect/coronavirus-information-center. 30 January 2020. 15 March 2020.
2. News: Reynolds . Matt . What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic? . 4 March 2020 . Wired UK. 5 March 2020 . 1357-0978. https://web.archive.org/web/20200305104806/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-coronavirus. 5 March 2020. live.
3. Web site: Crunching the numbers for coronavirus . Imperial News. 13 March 2020 . 15 March 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200319084913/https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/196137/crunching-numbers-coronavirus/. 19 March 2020. live.
4. Web site: High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England . GOV.UK . en. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200303051938/https://www.gov.uk/guidance/high-consequence-infectious-diseases-hcid. 3 March 2020. 17 March 2020.
5. Web site: World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus . www.wfsahq.org. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200312233527/https://www.wfsahq.org/resources/coronavirus. 12 March 2020. 15 March 2020.
6. Future scenarios of the healthcare burden of COVID-19 in low- or middle-income countries, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London.
7. Web site: Covid-19: São Tomé e Príncipe com quatro casos de infecção. 2020-04-06. Radio France Internationale. pt. 2020-04-06.
8. Web site: BOLETIM COVID-19 ATUALIZAÇÃO 30 de abril de 2020. Facebook . Government of Sao Tome and Principe . 1 May 2020 . pt.
9. Web site: Nota de condolências. Government of Sao Tome and Principe . 1 May 2020 . pt.
10. Web site: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 133 . World Health Organization . 15 July 2020 . 7 . 1 June 2020.
11. Web site: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 163 . World Health Organization . 15 July 2020 . 7 . 1 July 2020.
12. Web site: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 194. World Health Organization. 2 August 2020. 5. 1 August 2020.
13. Web site: Outbreak brief 33: COVID-19 pandemic – 1 September 2020. CDC Africa. 14 September 2020. 2. 1 September 2020.
14. Web site: COVID-19 situation update for the WHO African region. External situation report 31. World Health Organization. 2 October 2020. 4. 30 September 2020.
15. Web site: COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update. World Health Organization. 9 November 2020. 14. 3 November 2020.
16. Web site: Covid-19: São Tomé e Príncipe regista seis novos casos positivos. Visão. 1 December 2020. 30 November 2020. pt.
17. Web site: Outbreak brief 50: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Africa CDC. 1 January 2021. 3. 29 December 2020.
18. Web site: Covid-19: Africa with 349 more dead and 19,173 infected in the last 24 hours. Ver Angola. 3 April 2021. 1 April 2021.
19. Web site: Outbreak brief 103: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Africa CDC. 6 January 2022. 4 January 2022. 3.
20. Cabore. Joseph Waogodo. Karamagi. Humphrey Cyprian. Kipruto. Hillary Kipchumba. Mungatu. Joseph Kyalo. Asamani. James Avoka. Droti. Benson. Titi-ofei. Regina. Seydi. Aminata Binetou Wahebine. Kidane. Solyana Ngusbrhan. Balde. Thierno. Gueye. Abdou Salam. Makubalo. Lindiwe. Moeti. Matshidiso R. COVID-19 in the 47 countries of the WHO African region: a modelling analysis of past trends and future patterns. The Lancet Global Health. 1 June 2022. 10 . 8 . e1099–e1114. 10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00233-9. 35659911 . 9159735 . 2 June 2022. free.
21. Boletim semanal COVID-19, 3 January 2023.
22. Boletim semanal COVID-19, 2 January 2024.
23. Web site: Health - Sao Tome & Principe travel advice. GOV.UK. 3 April 2020.
24. Web site: Aisha . Salaudeen . Africa's tourism industry is preparing for a post-coronavirus era . 2020-06-15 . CNN. June 2020 .
25. Web site: COVID19 Portal. 2021-05-12. covid.ms.gov.st. 6 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506133603/https://covid.ms.gov.st/st/. dead.