Burkina Faso displaced worried by virus outbreak

Many displaced people who escaped attacks by extremists in Burkina Faso are now worried they're at risk from the new coronavirus.

Violent attacks are escalating in the country creating one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.

More than 800,000 people have been internally displaced, hundreds of thousands of which are living in makeshift displacement sites across the country.

Burkina Faso is one of the hardest hit countries on the continent and there's concern that if coronavirus infects an already vulnerable displaced population it could be catastrophic.

Jerry-Jonas Mbasha, an official at the World Health Organisation in Burkina Faso, said if COVID-19 broke out at internally displaced person sites or in refugee populations its impact would be "beyond expected epidemiological forecasts".

Internally displaced person sites lack space and access to soap and water.

On the outskirts of Ouagadougou, 600 internally displaced people shelter in an abandoned school, with up to 30 people living in one room.

Aguirata Maiga, who was displaced from her home in the north by extremist attacks said she is worried about coronavirus.

"We have 30 (people) in the same room, we don't have soap to wash our hands so if this disease comes here it will be very difficult for us," she said.

The government's strategy to help the internally displaced population is the same as for civilians in the rest of the country, relying on the existing health system such as hospitals and primary care clinics to cater to patients.

But the country's fragile health system has been weakened by years of attacks.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.