Coronavirus cases in Africa register increase, experts voice concern about health systems
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Cases of the new coronavirus are ramping up in Africa, with six new countries announcing confirmed infections in the past 24 hours.
Across Africa, at least 17 of the continent’s 54 countries have now registered COVID-19 cases. The majority of these cases are imported, authorities say.
On Friday, Kenya, Guinea and Ethiopia reported their first cases, while Gabon and Ghana did so late Thursday. Sudan also reported its first case, a person who had already died.
Mauritania’s health ministry confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the West African country in a statement on Friday.
The patient is a European man living in Mauritania who returned to the country’s capital Nouakchott on March 9 and had since been in quarantine. His nationality was not specified.
Experts warn that on the continent of more than 1.3 billion people, containment is key as Africa’s already strained health systems could likely lead to a higher mortality rate and deeper crisis that would have global impact.
African countries only began reporting cases in February, and most have been imported by travelers from Europe and the US.
South Africa announced eight new cases Friday, bringing its total to 24. Amid growing worry across the country, the military is preparing to repatriate 121 South African students from the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan, China. The returned students and the military on the flight will immediately be placed in quarantine.
Africa has so far been good at containing the virus because they have detected cases early, said Dr. Mary Stephen, technical officer at the World Health Organization regional office in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
The most likely reason Africa has such a low number of cases is because of the low volume of contact between the continent and the world, including fewer planes and people coming here, said Augustin Augier, executive director of the non-governmental organization the Alliance for International Medical Action, known as ALIMA.
However, he warned, it’s only a matter of time until Africa catches up in cases and the result could be a higher mortality rate.
“The worries are very high because in a certain number of countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the health systems are already weak … so if the outbreak is happening as well in these areas, we can expect a much higher mortality rate than in Europe or Asia,” he said.
