Following a second wave which peaked at much higher numbers than Africa’s first surge, new case numbers declined for five weeks, and then plateaued during the past three weeks at around 70 000 cases per week. In the last week, there has been a slight uptick in new cases and an upward trend in 12 countries, including in Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Cameroon.
While deaths reported have dropped by more than 50% over the past 28 days compared with the previous 28 days, the case fatality ratio or the proportion of deaths among confirmed cases is at 3.6% for the past 28 days. This is higher than the global average.
Africa is poised to surpass 4 million COVID-19 infections this week since the continent’s first confirmed case in February 2020. The year-long battle against the virus, which has also claimed over 106 000 lives, is now receiving a crucial boost with the arrival of vaccines through the COVAX Facility – a multi-partner vaccine procurement platform.
Following a second wave which peaked at much higher numbers than Africa’s first surge, new case numbers declined for five weeks, and then plateaued during the past three weeks at around 70 000 cases per week. In the last week, there has been a slight uptick in new cases and an upward trend in 12 countries, including in Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Cameroon.
COVID-19 cases in Africa to top 4 million, vaccine rollout underway africanews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from africanews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
West African countries ramp up Ebola preparedness Listen to article
As Ebola immunization scales up in Guinea, the country’s neighbouring nations are on high alert, urgently preparing to detect, isolate and manage any cases and quickly stamp out potential cross-border outbreaks.
Nine cases, including five deaths have been reported in Guinea. While no confirmed cases of Ebola have been recorded outside of the country, the latest outbreak in N’Zerekore prefecture is close to porous borders with Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d Ivoire.
All six nations bordering Guinea are finalising their national preparedness and readiness operational plans in line with a WHO readiness assessment tool. The overall state of readiness in the six countries is nearly 66% which is still lower than the benchmark of 80%.