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| - Equatorial Guinea on Saturday said it was suspending air and boat links between its capital Malabo, located on an island, and its mainland due to a lack of Covid testing kits. Equatorial Guinea, a country with 1.3 million people, has officially recorded 5,663 cases of coronavirus, of which 87 have been fatal. The economic capital Bata is located on the mainland and the suspended travel links will be a severe blow to the people of the oil-rich country, where the vast majority lives in grinding poverty. The tiny state, ruled by 78-year-old President Teodoro Obiang Nguema for the past 41 years, scaled back a rigorously enforced range of restrictions in August. "From Sunday February 14 until a date that will be decided later, all flights and boat crossings are suspended between Malabo and Bata and vice-versa because the Covid-19 testing kits have been depleted," the state television said late Friday. On Tuesday, the country imposed a curfew and made coronavirus negative tests obligatory for people wishing to travel between the mainland and the island where Malabo is located. According to official statistics, there are about 50 new coronavirus cases per week on average. On Friday, the country began administering vaccinations after receiving a donation of 100,000 Chinese-made vaccines from Beijing. The first to be inoculated were Vice President Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the president's son, and his mother. sam-amt/ach/pvh
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