The number of corona virus infections in Africa recorded 55,000 cases.
Friday, June 26, 2020
UPDATimes - Since the first case of the corona virus in Africa was reported on February 14, the media, experts, governments and even the World Health Organization (WHO) have predicted a "catastrophe" on the continent.
Although experts warn that it is too early to state that the claim is not proven, what was predicted by John Nkengasong, director of the disease control and prevention center in Africa, has not yet happened.
So far, cases of infection in Europe have reached more than 1.5 million, the United States more than 1.4 million, and Africa reports around 69,000 infections.
This figure is quite low and until May 13, the region recorded more than 2,300 deaths, far below the death of the State of New York in the US which reached more than 27,000 people.
When compared with the population in the whole region which is 1.2 billion people, this ratio is much lower.
The countries with the highest infection rates are South Africa with more than 10,000 cases, Egypt with more than 10,000 infections, Morocco and Algeria with more than 6,000 cases.
In total, these four countries comprise nearly 50% of the infection rates in Africa.
Experts say the explanation for the low level of infection in Africa is poor health facilities so that the Covid-19 test and detection is more difficult to do mainly due to lack of resources.
But other experts say other factors such as demographics and the lack of mobility of people in Africa also play a role in the low infection rates on this continent.
Anne Soy, UPDATimes
Africa's deputy editor, explained that 53 countries in Africa which had confirmed the existence of corona virus infection applied a different strategy.
Africa was once thought to be one of the highest pandemic centers but so far recorded relatively low infection rates.
"There are countries that have taken drastic steps from the start while the number of cases continues to increase, but there are also those who still have not received a pandemic and have not implemented measures to prevent the spread of the virus, such as Tanzania," Soy said.
The President of Tanzania, John Magufuli is one of a number of world leaders who do not heed the severity of the spread of the virus. He even questioned the accuracy of the Covid-19 test and fired the head of the national laboratory that did the testing.
Magufuli had previously asked the Tanzanian people to pray that the pandemic would pass and that the government would not provide information about the development of the spread.
While there are a number of exceptions, most African countries do the same thing: "act faster than other countries in the world," Soy said.
"The steps taken are more decisive and more drastic, like Rwanda, for example, including the first. They applied quarantine when less than 20 cases were found. They stopped international flights," Soy added.
South Africa, the country with the highest cases on the continent, has implemented quarantine since March 27, banning all commercial flights and even the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.
With the decline in the South African economy, the local health ministry began easing a number of steps in early May.
Pandemic experience
Although, the corona virus pandemic is the most severe health problem in the world, this outbreak is not the first.
Especially in Africa, the continent is so often experiencing a severe pandemic, ranging from malaria, tuberculosis, colrea, HIV and Ebola.
These diseases have claimed many lives but scientists and the African medical community are trying to find innovation.
"Africans are accustomed to moving quickly and using volunteers from the countryside. In this way they can spread information related to disease prevention and apply it in time," said Karl Blanchet, global health expert at the center for research and education on humanitarian measures, Geneva Center for Education and Research on Humanitarian Action (Bright), to UPDATimes
The Ebola pandemic that struck West Africa between 2014 and 2016 caused chaos in countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone with more than 11,000 people dead.
Although the WHO set an end to the emergency situation in the region in March 2016, a number of countries experiencing a pandemic are still cautious because there are still a number of cases.
"The Ebola problem still existed when the Covid-19 pandemic erupted. This means that a number of African countries already have detection infrastructures at airports. Public health workers and body thermometers have been installed," said Africa's deputy editor at the BBC, Soy.
"The Ebola outbreak in West Africa also teaches Africa the importance of detecting cases quickly, treating patients who have been uplifted and isolating the community," said Soy again.
"Because of the (Ebola) epidemic, people no longer even shake hands in West Africa and in the Republic of Congo. They spread public awareness," he added.
A continent that is more or less mobilized
Frederique Jacquerioz, African public health expert and member of the team of tropical disease doctors at the University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland, estimates that another factor explaining why Africa is more resilient from a pandemic is the low mobility between countries on this continent compared to other parts of the world.
"The first quarantines in Africa are young people, African or European, who travel, and return to Africa with a virus," Jacquerioz said.
In other parts of the world, the movement of people is triggering the spread of the virus, especially in Europe, where many young people spend weekends in various cities.
The hypothesis of the lack of mobilization is also supported by a number of experts
Blanchet, director of Sunny, gave examples of the three African countries that were most affected by infection, South Africa, Egypt and Algeria.
"These countries have the most air links with China. The exception is Ethiophia, which has direct flights with China. But the country has not been badly affected by the pandemic. This is yet to be explained," Blanchet said.
The average age in Africa is 19.7 years
The African demographic pyramid is another factor that helps explain why the number of deaths on this continent is not high. Africa is the continent with the youngest population in the world.
Blanchet supports this hypothesis and says "The average age in Africa is 19.7 years, while in Europe it is around 40 years."
While Anne Soy, deputy editor of Africa at the BBC, acknowledged that demographics were a factor, but there were no scientific studies to support this theory.
"Demographics may be one of Africa's advantages, but there are also many malnourished children with weak immunity. Does this mean there will be more infections in African children?" he said.
WHO warning
The World Health Organization (WH) warns that the corona virus could cause 190,000 deaths in the next 12 months.
This warning came a month after WHO estimated the outbreak could cause 10 million infections on the continent in six months.
A new study published this week by WHO estimates that between 29 million and 44 million could be infected in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic if the measures to reduce the virus fail.
Various analysts emphasize the impact of a pandemic depending on the steps taken by various governments.
The director of the United Nations economic agency for Africa, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Stephen Karingi, told the British newspaper, the Guardian, that "Governments of African countries must be recognized to do many things to suppress the plague."
"The current project is like a war atmosphere, but because of the steps taken by the government and various community communities, the transmission rate is lower than in other regions," Karingi said.
"They have a high population density with poor health facilities. Some people cannot even get clean water," he added.
The Guardian also raised the fact that a large proportion of the population in Africa cannot take long to undergo regional quarantine because they are daily laborers who have to work every day to provide for their families.
In the midst of various opinions and debates related to why Africa is better at suppressing the Covid-19 pandemic, most experts agree that it is still too early to mention that "Africa is an exception."
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