Two days before the Tabaski festival, Dakar begins to empty its population. Many Senegalese return to their families established in the regions to celebrate the festival. However, the President of the Republic has asked the Senegalese to stay at home to avoid the spread of Covid-19. Wearing a mask is now mandatory in public places and transport.
as reported from Dakar, Birahim Toure
The Senegalese president’s request to celebrate the Tabaski festival at home and not to travel to the regions was not really heard at the bus stations in Dakar. At the Case-bi roundabout, a meeting place for city buses, there are many customers called “hour buses”. All are destined for Saint-Louis in northern Senegal.
“We have to because we can not leave the children, leave the lady, leave the mother and then do Tabaski here,” testifies a traveler.
Like this client, Samba Fall, a student, intends to go north of Senegal, although he makes sure he takes the necessary precautions to avoid catching the virus or even transmitting it to his family, which he will join early in the morning. “I will protect myself and I will also protect my family, and therefore I will wash my hands and wear my mask before getting on the bus,” he explains.
The bus driver of the questioned hour bus assures us that he is out to force himself to wear a mask and hand wash. Insurance hard to believe, no hand washing is visible on site.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry dusted off an order dated April 29, 2021, which stipulates that one wears a mask in public places and all transportation. A decree whose implementation is still slow to become effective in Dakar.
► Read also: In Senegal, Tabaski is preparing for a wave of Covid
.
