WHO warns Africa should ‘prepare for the worst’ with virus
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Africa should “prepare for the worst” as the coronavirus begins to spread locally, the World Health Organization’s director-general has warned, while South Africa became the continent’s new focus of concern as cases nearly doubled to 116 from two days before.
South Africa’s health minister, Zweli Mkhize, this week called that kind of rate “explosive” in the country with the most cases in sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen of the latest cases were from local transmission — and six were in children under 10.
Though the pandemic is in its early days on the continent, health experts have warned that even facilities in Africa’s richest nation could be overwhelmed by the virus’ spread.
“I think Africa should wake up. My continent should wake up,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who comes from Ethiopia.
Crowded conditions in poor areas could lead to even faster transmission, experts say. Countless South Africans continue to pack into commuter trains and minivan taxis. But the annual pilgrimage of the Zion Christian Church, which attracts about 3 million people, was cancelled.
Wednesday, sub-Saharan Africa saw its second death from COVID-19, in Burkina Faso, which has one of the continent’s highest number of cases but has not imposed measures such as closing borders or banning religious services. Sudan previously reported a death.
In Kenya, police said a man accused of having the coronavirus was beaten to death. A police report obtained by The Associated Press said the man was returning home from a night out Wednesday when a group of youth approached and “took advantage of his drunkenness.”
Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, announced restrictions on the entry of travelers from countries with more than 1,000 coronavirus cases, including China and the U.S., and suspended visas on arrival for their citizens.
Nigeria has had eight cases of the virus, all in people recently arrived from abroad — one of the latest a 6-week-old baby. The country said one of the new patients, an American, had entered via a land border, a first.
Three other African nations announced their first virus cases: Gambia, Zambia and Djibouti. Thirty-three of Africa’s 54 countries now have cases, with a total of at least 529 midday Wednesday.
