Twenty-three floors up, seven siblings endure lockdown in Congo

Children play inside their apartment on the 23rd floor of a residential building, during a lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Gombe district of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo April 18, 2020. REUTERS/Kenny Katombe

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Ibrahim points down to the empty main boulevard in downtown Kinshasa, Congo's capital, which has resembled a ghost town since April 6 when the government imposed a neigbourhood-wide lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Twenty-three floors below Ibrahim's home, officials in white hazmat suits spray disinfectant over the usually crowded avenue that slices through the heart of the world's largest French-speaking city.