Funeral workers carrying personal protective equipment carry a casket during the burial of a COVID-19 victim, amid a nationwide coronavirus disease closure (COVID-19), at Olifantsvlei Cemetery, southwest of Joburg, South Africa, January 6, 2021.
Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters
According to the World Health Organization, new, more contagious variants of Covid-19 are spreading across Africa and causing an increase in infections and deaths.
The week before Thursday saw more than 175,000 new cases and more than 6,200 deaths across the continent, the WHO said in an update, while infection rates rose 50% between December 29. and January 25 compared to the previous four weeks.
Deaths doubled during the same period to 15,000 people, concentrated in ten countries, mainly in southern and northern Africa, and now 22 countries have increased infection rates.
“The variant that was first detected in South Africa has spread rapidly beyond Africa and therefore what keeps me awake at night now is that it is likely to circulate in several African countries,” he said. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. a virtual press conference on Thursday.
The variant first discovered in South Africa is generating record infection rates in the subcontinent and has now been identified in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and the French Indian Ocean region of Mayotte, Zambia, the WHO confirmed , along with 24 nations outside Africa.
Meanwhile, the highly contagious strain initially detected in the UK has now targeted Nigeria and The Gambia.
The CDC in Africa has set up sequencing laboratories across the continent and the WHO has asked all nations to send at least 20 samples to sequencing laboratories a month to help coordinate a specific response.
“In addition to the new variants, the fatigue of COVID-19 and the consequences of year-end meetings risk causing a perfect storm and driving Africa’s second wave and overwhelming health facilities,” he said. Moeti.
“Africa is at a crossroads. We need to follow our weapons and double down on tactics that we know work so well. That’s wearing masks, washing our hands and distancing ourselves safely. They depend on it. countless lives “.
Last week’s infections were slightly reduced in South Africa, the most affected country on a continent that, for the most part, has prevented the exponential spread of the virus that has stopped many major economies at various points in the world. last year.
As of Friday morning, South Africa had recorded 1,437,798 cases of Covid-19 and 43,105 deaths. According to a BBC data group compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the entire continent has reported around 3.5 million cases and 88,985 deaths.