Management of an outbreak of confirmed Covid-19 cases in a rural commune, Central African Republic in 2021

In the commune of Doaka-Koursou in the district of Bouar-Baoro, an outbreak of COVID-19 cases was detected following a wedding ceremony attended by several people from different localities. The objective of this survey is to describe and analyse the management of a COVID-19 outbreak in the rural commune of Doaka-Koursou in CAR. This is a retrospective and descriptive study in people who tested positive for COVID-19, symptomatic or asymptomatic. The investigation took into account the management of the outbreak, the observance of preventive measures and the management of cases. A total of 106 cases have been recorded during this COVID-19 outbreak. Peak cases were observed at week 41 (50 cases). The extreme ages were 1 and 85 years with an average of 33 years. The 20 to 29 age group accounted for 29% (n=31). On the other hand, the female sex had 70% of patients with a sex ratio of woman to man of 2.4. However, only one case was vaccinated against COVID-19. No deaths were recorded. Signs such as cough, fever, headache were observed in 100, 80 and 70% respectively. Half of the patients had symptoms of fatigue, joint pain and anorexia. Barrier and distancing measures had not been observed in the commune of Doaka-Koursou. Although the vaccine response had occurred almost at the end of the outbreak, prompt management of patients had limited the progression to severity.