Funeral workers wearing personal protective equipment carry a coffin during the funeral of a COVID-19 victim, amid a nationwide blockage of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Olifantsvlei Cemetery, southwest of Joburg, South Africa , January 6, 2021
Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters
New and more contagious variants of Covid-19 are spreading in Africa, causing an increase in infections and deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
More than 175,000 new cases and more than 6,200 deaths were reported across the continent in the week leading up to Thursday, the WHO said in an update, while infection rates rose 50 percent between December 29 and January 25 compared to the last four weeks.
Deaths doubled to 15,000 over the same period, concentrated in 10 nations in southern and northern Africa, with 22 countries now seeing rising infection rates.
“The variant that was first detected in South Africa has spread rapidly beyond Africa and so what keeps me awake at night now is that it is most likely circulating in a number of African countries,” the WHO regional director for Africa said. , Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. a virtual press conference on Thursday.
The variant first discovered in South Africa causes record rates of infection in the subcontinent and has now been identified in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and the French region of the Indian Ocean Mayotte, Zambia, confirmed the WHO, along with 24 nations outside Africa.
Meanwhile, the highly contagious strain initially detected in the UK has now made its way to Nigeria and The Gambia.
CDC Africa has set up sequencing laboratories across the continent, and WHO has asked all nations to send at least 20 samples to sequencing laboratories per month to help coordinate a targeted response.
“In addition to the new variants, the fatigue of COVID-19 and the consequences of the assemblies at the end of the year risk fueling a perfect storm and driving Africa’s second wave and overwhelming health facilities,” Moeti said.
“Africa is at a crossroads. We need to hold on to our weapons and double down on tactics that we know work so well. This is wearing a mask, washing hands and safe social distance. Countless lives depend on it.” .
Last week’s infections fell slightly in South Africa, the hardest-hit country on a continent that has largely avoided the exponential spread of the virus, which has brought many major economies to a standstill at various points in the past year.
As of Friday morning, South Africa had 1,437,798 cases of Covid-19 and 43,105 deaths. The entire continent reported about 3.5 million cases and 88,985 deaths, according to a BBC data compilation compiled by Johns Hopkins University.