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World Health Organization Africa Director Machidisu Moeti warned on Thursday that Africa was facing a “watershed moment” in its war against the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, with high numbers of infections and deaths following the easing of closures and travel restrictions.
Over the past month, the average increase in weekly infections with the virus reached 7 percent across the continent, and the average increase in weekly deaths was 8 percent, according to the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC Africa).
“In fact, we are at a critical time for the spread of the pandemic in Africa,” Moeti said during a news conference. While the continent witnessed a downward trend in the virus outbreak rate over the past three months, this decline has stabilized.
Despite initial fears that the pandemic could devastate the region, the 55 countries of the African Union have recorded around 1.6 million infections so far, accounting for just 4.2 percent of total infections in the world, according to the African Centers for Disease Control.
As for deaths on the continent, which amounted to around 39 thousand, they represent 3.6 percent of total global deaths.
John Nkengasung, CDC Africa director, said many countries have imposed punitive lockdown measures and restricted travel for long periods, measures that will be difficult to reapply in response to a new virus outbreak.
“We see what is happening in Europe as lockdown measures are eased, how the number of new infections has increased, and even many countries are considering imposing a second lockdown. We cannot bear that,” he added.
“We cannot allow this virus to undo the progress we have made in recent months since the outbreak of the pandemic began,” he added.
South Africa has recorded about half of the HIV infections on the continent.
In North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya have seen a large increase in injuries in recent weeks.
Moeti said that compared to the onset of the pandemic, African countries “are now in a much better position to face the new challenges that Covid-19 poses on our path,” referring to the significant increases in testing and respirators. .
But he expressed concern about the impact of increased infections in Europe on the continent.
“We know the close connection between Africa and Europe,” he said, adding that “therefore, we are concerned about the high number of infections in Europe at the same time that travelers and tourists from there may enter Africa.”
