21/01/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 21 January, the European Commission announced that it is providing €1.5 million for a project to strengthen the capacity to respond to epidemics in the Republic of the Congo, as part of the government’s national health response plan, in partnership with the Red Cross and France. The project covers 47 health centres and 3 million people. It focuses on infection prevention and control, epidemiological monitoring and risk communication among populations. In the last ten years, the Republic of the Congo has faced numerous epidemics such as cholera, Ebola, measles, swine flu (H1N1), yellow fever and chikungunya. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there have only been 5,632 confirmed cases of Covid-19 (with a mortality rate of approximately 1.7%), according to the latest official statistics from 16 November. (AN)