COVID-19 Africa Roundup Week Ending 3 May 2020
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Happy new month!
In the week ending 3 May, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases surpassed 3 million around the world and the response to the pandemic has been marred by challenges with contact tracing and sample collection, insufficient PPE and operating with limited staff due to self-quarantine measures.
On the continent, African countries are urged to continue to respond to other health issues such as malaria and polio and limit disruptions to care due to the COVID-19. Zimbabwe has seen a 40% increase in malaria cases during this peak season of malaria transmission which runs from February to May.
Comoros reported its first COVID-19 case this week, leaving Lesotho as the only African country with no confirmed cases.
In a week, the total number of confirmed cases in Africa has increased by over 12,000, bringing the total number to 42,751. Confirmed deaths have remained relatively low at 1,765 but there are growing fears of under-reporting.
Despite the continuing increase in cases, some African countries are starting to relax their lockdown measures in order to mitigate the economic effects the virus.
Here is an in-depth look of the confirmed cases and deaths in Africa per region.
North Africa does not seem to be able to slow the virus down as cases soared to 16,297. It accounts for over 2/5 of the total continent’s cases and more than 60% of the deaths on the continent.
South Africa has reached over 6,000 confirmed cases accounting for over 93% of the cases in the region. This last week, South Africa eased the lockdown to level 4 which allows for some economic activity. However, international borders remain closed, social gatherings remain restricted and travel between provinces are not allowed. The good news is no deaths were reported in the country this week.
West Africa has for the first time become the second most infected region on the continent taking over from Southern Africa. Following North Africa with 16,297 confirmed cases, West Africa has 11,463 confirmed cases. Nigeria and Ghana have been hit hardest with 2,388 and 2,169 respectively. Despite the growing number of cases, deaths in the region have been kept relatively low at 280 compared to North Africa (1,093).
Confirmed cases of the virus continued to grow in the Eastern region but deaths remained low. Comoros, Eritrea, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan and Uganda have reported zero deaths since the outbreak. Seychelles has reported no new cases for a second week in a row.
The cases in Central Africa rose this past week by 1,182 totalling 3,861. Central African Republic is the only country in the region with zero deaths.
