Funeral personnel wearing personal protective equipment carry a coffin during the burial of a COVID-19 victim, amid a national coronavirus disease (COVID-19) blockade, at Olifantsvlei Cemetery, southwest of Joburg, South Africa, 6 January 2021.
Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters
New and more contagious variants of Covid-19 are spreading across 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 prior to Thursday, the WHO said in an update, while infection rates increased by 50% between 29 December and 25 January compared to the previous four weeks.
Deaths in the same period doubled to 15,000, concentrated in 10 nations mainly in southern and northern Africa, with 22 countries now experiencing an increase in infection rates.
“The variant that was first detected in South Africa has spread rapidly beyond Africa and what is keeping me up at night now is that it is most likely circulating in several African countries,” said the WHO Regional Director for Africa. Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, at a virtual press conference on Thursday.
The variant first discovered in South Africa is generating record infection rates in the subcontinent and has now been identified in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and the French Indian Ocean region of Mayotte, Zambia, the WHO confirmed, along with 24 nations outside the region. Africa.
In the meantime, the highly contagious strain initially detected in the United Kingdom has now targeted Nigeria and Gambia.
Africa CDC set up sequencing laboratories across the continent, and WHO called on all nations to send at least 20 samples to the 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 end-of-year meetings run the risk of generating a perfect storm and increasing Africa’s second wave and overloading health facilities,” said Moeti.
“Africa is at a crossroads. We must stick to our weapons and redouble the tactics that we know work so well. That is wearing masks, washing your hands and securing yourself socially. Countless lives depend on it.”
Infections last week fell slightly in South Africa, the most affected country on a continent that has largely prevented the exponential spread of the virus that has paralyzed many major economies at various points in the past year.
As of Friday morning, South Africa had recorded 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 an aggregation of BBC data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.