COVID-19 pandemic in Mauritania

On 13 March, the first case was confirmed, with the case being placed in isolation.[9]

The case is an expatriate from a yet to be disclosed country, in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott.[10] After test results came in positive, charter flights to France were cancelled.

On 18 March, the Mauritanian Minister of Health announced the discovery of a second positive coronavirus case on a foreign female employee, working at a house of a couple of expatriates, the woman arrived 10 days prior the discovery.[11]

A third coronavirus case was declared on 26 March for a 74-year-old man, a Mauritanian citizen who had arrived in Mauritania on 15 March from France via Air France.[12]

The country recorded its first death on 30 March 2020.[13] By the end of March there had been six confirmed cases, one death and two recoveries, leaving three active cases.[14]

On 18 April, the last remaining active case recovered. On that date, there had been 7 confirmed cases in the country, 6 of whom had recovered, and one of whom had died, making Mauritania temporarily one of few affected countries in the world to become free of COVID-19.[15]

On 29 April, a Senegalese citizen tested positive. The case is a 68-year woman living in the state of Nouakchott.[16]

There were two new cases in April, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 8. The death toll remained unchanged. Between 18 and 29 April there were no active cases; at the end of April the woman having tested positive on 29 April was the only active case.[17]

On 6 May, with only one active case, restrictions were partially eased.[18] By the end of May, the number confirmed active cases had increased to 480 while the death toll had increased to 23. The total number of confirmed cases grew to 530 in May, 27 of whom recovered.[19]

There were 3707 new cases in June, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4237. The death toll rose to 128. There were 2612 active cases at the end of June.[20]

During July there were 2073 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 6310. The death toll rose to 157. The number of recovered patients since the start of the outbreak reached 4962, leaving 1191 active cases at the end of the month — less than half the number of active cases a month before.[21]

There were 738 new cases in August, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 7048. The death toll rose to 159. At the end of August there were 425 active cases.[22]

There were 440 new cases in September, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 7488. The death toll rose to 161. The number of recovered patients increased to 7111, leaving 216 active cases at the end of the month.[23]

There were 215 new cases in October, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 7703. The death toll rose to 163. The number of recovered patients increased to 7433, leaving 107 active cases at the end of the month.[24]

There were 898 new cases in November, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 8601. The death toll rose to 177. The number of recovered patients increased to 7732, leaving 692 active cases at the end of the month.[25]

There were 5763 new cases in December, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 14364. The death toll nearly doubled to 349. The number of recovered patients increased to 11678, leaving 2637 active cases at the end of the month.[26]

There were 2271 new cases in January, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 16635. The death toll rose to 422. The number of recovered patients increased to 15676, leaving 537 active cases at the end of the month.[27]