COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea

The COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Guinea in March 2020.^[2]

COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Guinea
First outbreak	Wuhan, Hubei, China
Index case	Conakry
Arrival date	13 March 2020 (4 years and 10 months)
Confirmed cases	38,582[1] (updated 13 January 2025)
Deaths	468[1] (updated 13 January 2025)
Government website
http://www.anss-guinee.org/

Background

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.^[3][4]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,^[5][6] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.^[7][5] Model-based simulations for Guinea suggest that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R _t has been lower than 1.0 since July 2021.^[8]

Timeline

President Alpha Condé meets with U.S. Ambassador to Guinea Simon Henshaw to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic while both practice social distancing.

March 2020

• On 13 March 2020, Guinea's first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported. A Belgian national who is an employee of the European Union delegation in Guinea has tested positive for COVID-19.^[9][10]
• Confirmed cases doubled from eight to 16 on 29 March.^[11]

April to June 2020

• There were 1,479 new cases in April, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 1495. The death toll was 7. There were 329 recoveries, leaving 1,159 active cases at the end of the month.^[12]
• In May 2020, six people were killed by police at checkpoints in Coyah and Dubréka. Police spokesman Mory Kaba claimed that the individuals were protesting the checkpoints, which had been established to control the spread of COVID-19. Protesters stated that they were protesting extortion at the checkpoints.^[13] During the month there were 2,276 new cases, raising the total number of cases to 3,771. The death toll rose to 23. At the end of the month there were 1,653 active cases.^[14]
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) sent help for Guinea's efforts at combatting the virus.^[15]
• There were 1,620 new cases in June, bringing the total number of cases to 5,391. The death toll rose to 33. There were 1,032 active cases at the end of the month.^[16]

Subsequent cases

• 2020 cases

There were 13,722 confirmed cases in 2020. 13,141 patients recovered while 81 persons died. At the end of 2020 there were 500 active cases.^[17]

• 2021 cases

Guinea received a small number of doses of the Sputnik V vaccine and became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to inoculate some of its high-level officials.^[18] 194,400 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were delivered on 11 April, courtesy of COVAX.^[19]

There were 18,949 confirmed cases in 2021, bringing the total number of cases to 32,671. 16,781 patients recovered in 2021 while 310 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 391. At the end of 2021 there were 2,358 active cases.

Modeling by WHO’s Regional Office for Africa suggests that due to under-reporting, the true cumulative number of infections by the end of 2021 was around 5.9 million while the true number of COVID-19 deaths was around 2,800.^[20]

• 2022 cases

Samples taken between May and October showed that the rapidly spreading BA.5.2.1.7 variant was present in Guinea.^[21]

There were 5,539 confirmed cases in 2022, bringing the total number of cases to 38,210. 7,296 patients recovered in 2022 while 75 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 466. At the end of 2022 there were 526 active cases.^[22]

• 2023 cases

There were 362 confirmed cases in 2023, bringing the total number of cases to 38,572. Two persons died, bringing the total death toll to 468.^[23]

Statistics

Confirmed new cases per day

Confirmed deaths per day

See also

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

References

1. Mathieu, Edouard; Ritchie, Hannah; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Dattani, Saloni; Beltekian, Diana; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Roser, Max (2020–2024). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
2. "Guinea reports first confirmed COVID-19 case". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
3. Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
4. Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
5. "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
6. "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
7. "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
8. 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.
9. "EU employee tests positive for coronavirus in Guinea's first case". Reuters. 13 March 2020.
10. "Sudan, Guinea record first cases of coronavirus". africanews.com. 13 March 2020.
11. Guinee360 (29 March 2020). "Covid-19: Des nouveaux cas enregistrés ce dimanche à Conakry". Guinee360.com - Actualité en Guinée, toute actualité du jour (in French). Retrieved 29 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
12. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 102" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 May 2020. p. 5. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
13. "Guinea: Six protesters killed in clashes with police". Al Jazeera English. 13 May 2020.
14. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 133" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 June 2020. p. 6. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
15. "MSF supports the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic response in Guinea". Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
16. "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report 163" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 July 2020. p. 6. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
17. "COVID-19 and W/Africa: 1,994 new cases, 31 new deaths in 24 hours". APA. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
18. "Vaccin anti-Covid-19 : la Guinée essaie le Spoutnik V russe" (in French). Le Point Afrique. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
19. "COVID-19 brings new challenges for health authorities in Guinea". European Union.
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 (1 June 2022). "COVID-19 in the 47 countries of the WHO African region: a modelling analysis of past trends and future patterns". The Lancet Global Health. 10 (8): e1099 – e1114. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00233-9. PMC 9159735. PMID 35659911. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
21. "Communique on the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron BF.7 variants". Africa CDC. 4 January 2023. p. 1. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
22. "Weekly bulletin on outbreaks and other emergencies" (PDF). World Health Organization. 8 January 2023. p. 14. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
23. "Guinea". World Health Organization. 19 December 2023.