- Bemoans lack of healthcare facilities, workers
The World Health Organization has projected that the novel coronavirus could infect between 29 million and 44 million in the first year and kill between 83,000 and 190,000 people in Africa if it is not contained.
These projections are contained in a new WHO Africa study based and made available to reporters via a teleconference by Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa.
“COVID-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several years unless a proactive approach is taken by many governments in the region. While COVID-19 likely won’t spread as exponentially in Africa as it has elsewhere in the world, it likely will smolder in transmission hotspots. We need to test, trace, isolate, and treat.
Under the projected no-containment scenario, there would be an estimated 3.6 million–5.5 million COVID-19 hospitalizations, of which 82,000–167,000 would be severe cases requiring oxygen, and 52,000–107,000 would be critical cases requiring breathing support” WHO Africa said.
Notably, the WHO Africa study covered only the 47 countries that belong to the WHO Africa region and not the entire continent. The body’s regional definition excludes Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Morocco.
Africa has registered lower rates of infection compared to other countries elsewhere. This is mainly due to ongoing national lockdowns. Findings from the study show that lower transmission rates could mean prolonged outbreaks that might last for a few years.
Moeti further lamented over the shortage of health facilities and rising cases of infected workers.
‘We are very concerned that almost 1,000 African health workers have been infected with COVID-19. We know that most African countries already have a severe shortage of healthcare workers and facilities,’ Moeti added.
