COVID-19 Spike in Africa Alarming, WHO Says 'Very Concerned' Over Acceleration of Disease in The Continent
Although the per capita case load is lower than both Americas, Europe and Asia, the continent has recorded the fastest pace of acceleration between May-end to second week of July. In this period, the cumulative case count increased from 100,000 to 500,000.
Geneva, July 20: The spike in COVID-19 cases in Africa is alarming, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday. The situation has sparked concern, the UN body claimed, adding that the rate of infection is accelerating in most parts of the continent. The observation comes days after experts warned of community outbreak in several African nations.
Although the per capita case load is lower than both Americas, Europe and Asia, the continent has recorded the fastest pace of acceleration between May-end to second week of July. In this period, the cumulative case count increased from around 100,000 to over 500,000. Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Phase-I Trial Results Show It is 'Safe, Well-Tolerated And Immunogenic', Tweets Lancet's Chief Editor.
"I am very concerned right now that we are beginning to see an acceleration of disease in Africa," WHO's emergencies chief Michael Ryan said at a virtual press conference.
Update by AFP
The worst-affected countries in Africa, due to the pandemic, are South Africa and Egypt. Both the countries have recorded 287,796 and 83,001 cases, respectively. Nigeria (33,153), Ghana (24,988) and Algeria (19,689) are among the other nations severely hit by coronavirus.
With more than a third of countries in Africa doubling their cases over the past month, the threat of Covid-19 overwhelming fragile health systems is escalating," says Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO director for Africa, had said earlier this month.
Parts of Africa are already battling with the Ebola epidemic, with a new strain of the disease reported to have spread in some parts of Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lack of economic resources to maintain hygiene and social distancing, economic hardships and high population densities in urban slum pockets are feared as some of the reasons which may worsen the situation in Africa in case the pandemic completely enters into the community transmission stage.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 20, 2020 10:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).