コロナの日々 その４ Coronavirus days (Part 4)

ウガンダは10月9日58回目の独立記念日を迎えました。
例年は、首都Kampalaばかりか、Kitgumのようなド田舎でも、中央からのVIP…ファーストレディなど、を迎え、賑々しい催しが行われ、Kampalaなどでは海外からの来賓も多数迎え、国を挙げて、お祝いムードで盛り上がるのですが、コロナ禍の今年は、ふつうなら数時間にも及ぶ大統領のスピーチがあったのかどうか、BBC　Newsでさえも報道が確認できません。
On Oct. 9 Uganda marked the 58th anniversary of its independence. Ordinarily, lavish events attended by high-ranking government officials, the first lady, and other dignitaries would be held not just in the capital of Kampala but even in rural areas like Kitgum. Many guests from overseas would come to Kampala, and the country would be in a celebratory mood. But this year, because of the havoc caused by the coronavirus, we can’t find out even from the BBC News whether or not the president gave his usual hours-long speech. 

9月下旬のコロナ対応スピーチで予告されていたように、この15日、国境封鎖が解除、エンテベ空港も再開され、もちろん厳しい条件付きではありますが、国レベルの公務やビジネスなどの出入国が可能になったようです。1月、新図書館の引き渡し式にKitgumに来てくださった亀田大使もついに離任されました。
As was announced in his late September speech on the coronavirus, on Oct. 15 the country’s closed borders were opened and Entebbe International Airport was reopened. Of course, there are strict conditions for entry, but evidently it is now possible to enter the country for national affairs or business.
Kameda Kazuaki, the Japanese ambassador to Uganda, who came to Kitgum for the handover ceremony for the new library in January, has left his post.

 また、Primary校とSecondary校で、各々の最終学年（P.7, O.4, A.2）だけの授業も再開。ただし、手指洗いの水道設備やソーシャルディスタンス等を確保できることなどが条件のため、ごく一部の学校だけで始まっただけとのこと。　今年度私どもの就学支援生の中には当該学年の子供は無し。もしいたとしても、彼らが通うガバメント学校は“水道設備”など無いので条件をクリアできないでしょう…。ほとんどの子供たちは今も“食”にありつきやすいタウンよりさらに田舎の村々に行ったきりのようです。　  
 In the primary and secondary schools, classes have resumed only for the highest grades (P. 7, O. 4, A. 2). But because running water for hand-washing and social distancing are required, apparently only a few schools have actually resumed classes. None of the students the library is supporting this school year is in those grades. Even if they were, the government schools they attend do not have running water and cannot meet these requirements. Apparently, most of the children are still in rural villages rather than in the towns, where it is easier to get food.
  9月末、”科学者たちは、アフリカの低い新型コロナ致死率の背後にある理由を見つけようとしている“というロイター通信の記事がJapan News紙に掲載され、広島のNさんがコピーを送ってくださいました。南アフリカやモロッコの感染者数、死者数は決して少ないとはいえませんし、ウガンダを含む他のアフリカ諸国でも徐々に感染者数、死者数ともに増えつつはありますが、確かに当初予測されていたよりははるかに低く抑えられています。要因として、  
　①感染状況、人数などの把握、集計が不十分、不正確、   
　②人口構成…住民の平均年齢が大変若い、   
　③結核予防BCGなどの効能、   
　④早々の国境封鎖や外出、移動制限、   
　⑤数々の感染症に見舞われてきた経験が活きている  
等々が考察されています。
  In late September a Reuters article under the headline “Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind Africa's low fatality rates from pandemic” appeared in the Japan News, and N-san in Hiroshima prefecture sent it to us. There have been quite a few coronavirus cases and deaths in South Africa and Morocco, and in Uganda and other African countries as well the number of cases and deaths are gradually increasing. But the numbers are far lower than initial projections. The article suggests several factors:
   1. Inaccurate official figures, unrecorded deaths
   2. Demographics: Africa’s youthful population   
   3. Cross-protection from the BCG tuberculosis vaccine  
   4. Early closure of borders, travel restrictions   
   5. Resistance as a result of past exposure to other coronaviruses 

  私どもには、20～年のウガンダでの見聞から、いずれもが適っているよう思えます。  
例えば①、どういう人が何人住んでいるかも定かでない奥地の村々では、多くの人々がコロナに限らず、どんな疾病ででも医療を受けることなく死亡、ほとんどは、“マラリアで“と処置されます。実は、”コロナで“だったとしても、PCR検査など不可能ですから、本当のところは誰にも分かりません。 コロナ死者数は増えないわけです。
②　確かに…、が、そもそも①と同じで、正確な人口動態調査は不可能、住民の人数、年齢などつかめないと思いますが。  
③　WHO、Red Crossといった国際医療機関にバックアップされたガバメントのチームが村々に分け入って無料接種を行っています。しかし、村落の年長者（呪術医！？）、親、保護者たちが占い？！などにより子供たちへの接種を妨げるケースが多々あります。昨秋、当局から「通学している子供たちは全員学校で受けるので、図書館塾の子供たちにも接種を受けさせて。」と依頼があり、子供たちに「接種してから図書館においで。」と伝えたら、かなりの子供たちが図書館に来なくなり、聞くと、親や保護者が、「害があるので受けさせない、だめというならもう図書館には行かせない！」と、拒絶。家庭訪問するなどし手をつくしましたが、全員に接種させることはできませんでした。  
④　これもアリですね。日本などがまだボーッとしているうちにさっさと空港も国境も学校も閉鎖、厳罰付きの外出・移動制限など導入、あまりの素早さにビックリしました。  
⑤　コレラや熱帯病等、毎年、散発の報道があり、ヒヤッとさせられますが、私どもが知る限り、抑え込みに成功しています。  
 理由はどうあれ、空恐ろしい予言が的中することなく、一日も早く収束するように、と祈るばかりです。  
  Having observed the situation in Uganda for more than 20 years, we believe all of these are plausible.  
   1. In remote villages where it is unclear who and how many people are living there, many people may die from the coronavirus or other illnesses without receiving medical care. In most cases, their deaths are attributed to malaria. Even if they are said to have died from the coronavirus, there is no way to administer a PCR test, so one really knows whether they had the virus or not.  
   2. It’s true that Africa has a youthful population, but as with 1), it is impossible to conduct an accurate census, and the number of residents and their ages cannot be accurately determined.  
   3. Backed by international organizations such as the World Health Organization and Red Cross, government teams fan out to villages to give free vaccinations. But in many cases village elders (witch doctors?), parents, and guardians prevent children from being vaccinated on the basis of fortune-telling. Last fall, we were told by the local authorities that because children who attend school are vaccinated there, those who come to the library should be vaccinated also. But when we told the children they could not come to the library until they had been vaccinated, many of them stopped coming. When we inquired, parents and guardians told us that they would not have their children vaccinated because they believed the vaccinations were harmful and that if it was a requirement, they would no longer send their children to the library. We visited their homes and did everything we could, but we weren’t able to get all the children to get vaccinated.  
   4. This is also a factor. While Japan and other countries were still in a fog, Uganda and many African countries promptly closed their borders and schools and introduced strict travel restrictions with penalties. We were surprised by how quickly they took action.
   5. Every year reports of outbreaks of cholera and tropical diseases give everyone a scare, but as far as we know, efforts to suppress them have succeeded.  
   Whatever the reasons, we hope the scary predictions are off the mark and the pandemic will end as soon as possible.