The African continent is grappling with an unprecedented increase in Covid-19 cases, due to the arrival of the third wave of the virus and variants that have a greater grip on African populations since last May, coinciding with the cold and rainy season that especially affects sub-Saharan areas and a relaxation of containment measures by many countries and their citizens.
The alarm was raised by the World Health Organisation's continental directorate and the African Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC).
WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti, admitted that the continent is grappling with a surge in Covid-19 infection and warned of the danger of the new strains arriving on the continent, which act with greater incisiveness in pre-existing diseases, warning institutions and calling for strict adherence to public health protocols.
"The third wave is spreading faster than the previous ones," Moeti explained, "and is hitting vulnerable people harder. The number of cases in the last five weeks is increasing rapidly and there are increasing reports of serious illnesses. So this wave threatens to be the worst Africa has ever experienced.
Statistics from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) show that the continent has had 5,288,323 cases of Covid-19 and 139,226 fatalities according to data through Thursday, 24 June 2021.
Five countries have so far recorded more than half of the reported cases: South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia, which together account for 62% of the total.
Among the countries where positivities and deaths are on the rise are also those close to Kenya, such as Uganda and Rwanda, while Tanzania has been put on the spot by international organisations for lack of reliable data, despite having admitted, after the death of 'denier' President John Magufuli, the presence of the virus and the increase in cases in the country. According to Matshidiso Moeti, the delta variant, which initially spread to India and from there was brought to Africa, has already been detected in 14 countries and in the last month has also appeared in most of the samples analysed in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The WHO director for Africa said the priority now for laboratories on the continent is to increase capacity to monitor and identify new variants of concern, to enhance mitigation measures, including timely diagnosis and treatment.