Burundi is one of the three countries torefuse to have vaccines. In February 2021, Thaddee Ndikumana, the health minister of Burundi, said his country was more concerned with prevention measures. “Since more than 95% of patients are recovering, we estimate that the vaccines are not yet necessary,” local media reported.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tanzania, Burundi not to get COVID-19 vaccine doses|date=5 February 2021|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tanzania-burundi-not-to-get-covid-19-vaccine-doses/2135487|website=Anadolu Agency|access-date=2021-06-17|language=en}}</ref>
Through most of 2021, Burundi was one of three countries which refused to have vaccines. In February 2021, Thaddee Ndikumana, the health minister of Burundi, said his country was more concerned with prevention measures. “Since more than 95% of patients are recovering, we estimate that the vaccines are not yet necessary,” local media reported.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tanzania, Burundi not to get COVID-19 vaccine doses|date=5 February 2021|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tanzania-burundi-not-to-get-covid-19-vaccine-doses/2135487|website=Anadolu Agency|access-date=2021-06-17|language=en}}</ref> In October 2021, however, the Burundian government announced that it had received delivery of 500,000 doses of the Chinese [[Sinopharm BIBP COVID-19 vaccine|Sinopharm]] vaccine.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-10-14|title=In about-face, Burundi receives first Covid vaccines|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211014-in-about-face-burundi-receives-first-covid-vaccines|access-date=2021-10-15|website=France 24|language=en}}</ref>
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]
Burundi's Health Minister Thadée Ndikumana confirmed the country's first two cases of coronavirus disease 2019 on 31 March, Burundi nationals travelling back from Rwanda and Dubai respectively.[9]
April 2020
On 5 April, a further positive case was confirmed, a 39-year-old woman, while 7 other people tested negative.[10] In total there were 20 new cases in April, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 18. One patient died (14 April) and 8 recovered, leaving 6 active cases at the end of the month.[11]
May 2020
On 12 May, the foreign ministry of Burundi addressed a letter to WHO's Africa headquarters, ordering four officials coordinating the coronavirus response to leave the country. The letter said the four individuals "are declared persona non grata and as such, must leave the territory of Burundi" by 15 May. The health minister reportedly accuses WHO of "unacceptable interference in [the country's] management of the coronavirus".[12]
There were 48 new cases in May, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 63. The death toll remained unchanged. 29 cases were active at the end of the month.[14]
June 2020
On 8 June,late President Pierre Nkurunziza died of what was described as a heart attack in a government statement. However, with government authorities accused of deliberately covering up the scope of the pandemic, and in the wake of unconfirmed reports that his wife was flown to Kenya 11 days before, having contracted COVID-19,[15] some have speculated that the president died of COVID-19.[16]
There were 107 new cases in June, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 170. The death toll remained unchanged and the number of recovered patients rose to 115, leaving 54 active cases at the end of the month.[17]
July 2020
There were 217 new cases in July, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 387. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased by 189 to 304, leaving 82 active cases at the end of the month.[18]
August 2020
There were 58 new cases in August, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 445. The death toll remained unchanged.[19] There were 87 active cases at the end of the month.
September 2020
There were 63 new cases in September, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 508. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 472, leaving 35 active cases at the end of the month.[20]
October 2020
There were 81 new cases in October, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 589. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 515, leaving 73 active cases at the end of the month.[21]
November 2020
There were 99 new cases in November, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 688. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 575, leaving 112 active cases at the end of the month.[22]
December 2020
Former president Pierre Buyoya died in Paris from COVID-19 on 17 December.[23] There were 130 new cases in December, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 818. The death toll doubled to 2. The number of recovered patients increased to 687, leaving 129 active cases at the end of the month.[24]
January 2021
The number of confirmed cases doubled from December to January, taking the total number to 1632. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 773, leaving 857 active cases at the end of the month.[25]
February 2021
There were 377 new cases in February, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 2209. The death toll rose to 3. The number of recovered patients remained unchanged, leaving 1433 active cases at the end of the month.[26]
March 2021
There were 633 new cases in March, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 2842. The death toll doubled to 6. The number of recovered patients increased to 1155, leaving 1681 active cases at the end of the month.[27]
April 2021
There were 1204 new cases in April, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 4046. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 3682, leaving 358 active cases at the end of the month.[28]
May 2021
There were 744 new cases in May, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 4790. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 4471, leaving 213 active cases at the end of the month.[29]
June 2021
There were 704 new cases in June, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 5494. The death toll rose to 8. The number of recovered patients increased to 5359, leaving 127 active cases at the end of the month.[30]
July 2021
There were 2011 new cases in July, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 7505. The death toll rose to 9.[31]
August 2021
There were 4885 new cases in August, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 12390. The death toll rose to 10.[32]
September 2021
There were 5881 new cases in September, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 18271. The death toll rose to 14. The number of recovered patients increased to 17459, leaving 798 active cases at the end of the month.[33]
Statistics
Confirmed new cases per day
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Confirmed deaths per day
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Vaccinations
Through most of 2021, Burundi was one of three countries which refused to have vaccines. In February 2021, Thaddee Ndikumana, the health minister of Burundi, said his country was more concerned with prevention measures. “Since more than 95% of patients are recovering, we estimate that the vaccines are not yet necessary,” local media reported.[34] In October 2021, however, the Burundian government announced that it had received delivery of 500,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.[35]
Prevention
On 12 March, the government instituted 14-day quarantining for people entering Burundi from affected countries.[36][37]
President Nkurunziza refused to impose restrictions on the country, permitting political rallies and sporting events to take place.[16]
