WHO: Only 9.4% have recovered from COVID-19 in Africa
At least 10 000 people have contracted coronavirus on the African continent, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and more than 500 of those have died.
The international public health body convened a media briefing on Thursday on the latest Covid-19 developments in Africa.
WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti says the pandemic is having far-reaching effects on the continent.
“There are also clusters of cases and communities-spread going on in at least 16 of our countries so we are no longer just speaking about imported cases, people that have traveled from somewhere else.
“We are seeing the pandemic also spread geographically, within those countries, beyond the capital cities where it first manifests itself to the districts and local levels which has serious implications for the response expansions.”
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Moeti says Africa’s response rate is lower than in other regions.
“We have found that the recovery rates in Africa is about 9.4%. I think this slightly lower than on other regions, in Asia and European counties.”
Moeti explains: “As we know there are people in our region with pre-existing conditions, the healthcare settings of our countries are very much challenged, and these are the challenges we will continue to look at.”
South Africa has the greatest number of people with the virus on the continent with 1845 confirmed cases.
Listen to Moeti below: