Reuters has more from the coronavirus briefing earlier today by the World Health Organization’s regional office from Africa.
According to the Canadian-owned news agency, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa regional director, said that the Covid-19 pandemic is accelerating in Africa, spreading to the hinterland from capital cities where it arrived with travellers.
Ten countries are driving Africa’s epidemic, accounting for 75% of the roughly 207,600 cases recorded on the continent, with 5,000 deaths reported, according to Moeti. There was no indication that severe cases and deaths were being missed, nor had the virus caused significant infections in refugee camps across the continent, she said.
“Even though these cases in Africa account for less than 3% of the global total, it’s clear that the pandemic is accelerating,” Moeti told the briefing, according to Reuters. “We believe that large numbers of severe cases and deaths are not being missed in Africa.”
Africa’s population was relatively youthful and many countries had already established “point of entry” screening measures against Ebola fever – two factors which may have so far limited the spread of Covid-19, she said.
But lockdowns and market closures intended to contain coronavirus contagion had taken a heavy toll on marginalised communities and low-income families, Moeti said.
In South Africa, the region’s worst-affected country, high numbers of daily cases and deaths were being reported in Western Cape and Eastern Cape, she said, adding: “Specifically in the Western Cape where we are seeing a majority of cases and deaths, the trend seem to be similar to what was happening in Europe and in the US.”
A major challenge on the continent remained the availability of test kits, Moeti said.
“Until such time as we have access to an effective vaccine, I’m afraid we’ll probably have to live with a steady increase in the region, with some hotspots having to be managed in a number of countries, as is happening now in South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon for example, which require very strong public health measures, social distancing measures to take place.”
