COVID-19 Africa Roundup Week Ending 26 April 2020

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Another week, Another update on Africa vs COVID-19!

I hope you are continuing to stay safe, maintaining social distancing and hygiene measures recommended by WHO and your national health experts. Here is our weekly roundup!

The holy month of Ramadan for the Muslim community began this week marked by fasting, abstinence from sexual activity and cigarettes between sunset and sunrise and more charitable work. The observance which is usually accompanied by daily prayers at end of each day and a communal feast is looking different as mosques and prayer houses are closed due to COVID-19 and social distancing is encouraged. WHO issued guidance on Safe Ramadan practices in the context of COVID-19.

United Nations warns that global hunger could double as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, putting 265 million people at risk. In Africa, there are now more than 28,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with a number of countries still imposing a range of preventive measures to stop the spread of the pandemic.

Ghana lifted its three-week lockdown in the main cities of Accra and Kumasi allowing non-essential services to operate. The country that has ramped up testing is encouraging citizens to wear masks and practice social distancing and has lifted restrictions to manage the impact of the lockdown on the poor. Ban on schools and large gatherings still remain in place.

Let’s see how the continent fared this week.

At the end of last week, total confirmed cases were at 30,377 and deaths at 1,378

North Africa recorded 41% of the total confirmed cases on the continent and 67.2% of the deaths maintaining the largest numbers on the continent since the outbreak. The region has the second country with the highest recoded cases (Egypt) and the country with the second lowest recorded (Mauritania).


In Southern Africa, the number of confirmed cases appear to be somewhat controlled in most countries except South Africa. South Africa has recorded 92.8% of the cases in the region. Namibia has maintained the same number of cases and deaths (16 cases and 0 deaths) all week and Angola (2), Botswana (1), eSwatini (1) and Mozambique (0) maintained the same number of deaths.

In West Africa, every country in the region has recorded an increase in the number of confirmed cases. Number of deaths remained the same in Cabo Verde (1), The Gambia (1) and Guinea Bissau (0). Total recorded cases this week stood at 7,377 rising by 2,854 in a week.
 
 
Overall, the number of confirmed cases in East Africa rose by about 1,000 new cases in the last week. Djibouti still has the highest cases at 1,008 but interestingly, there were no new deaths from COVID-19. Seychelles (11 cases, 0 deaths) and Eritrea (39 cases, 0 death) maintained the same number of confirmed cases and no deaths as the week before. Rwanda, the first African country to issue a lockdown has decided to maintain the lockdown till April 30 and has recorded no deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic.
 

In Central Africa, the region has kept the deaths from COVID-19 under 100 even though the confirmed cases have risen in the last week by 952. 56.% of the cases in the region are in Cameroon and cases in the country has grown by about 500 in a week. The somewhat good news is that countries such as the Central African Republic, Chad and Sao Tome and Principe have not had any deaths due to COVID-19.