COMOROS

The Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros seemed to have been spared when the coronavirus epidemic began spreading in Africa in early April. Then a report by Andjouza Abouheir, a journalist with La Gazette des Comores, explained why: the samples taken from the first suspected cases were never sent for analysis. In response to the ensuing outcry, the authorities tried to identify her source and threatened to prosecute journalists who published information “without going through official channels.”