Coronavirus: Africa hopes it has seen the worst of Covid-19 as case numbers, death rates fall

South Africa remains continent’s worst-affected nation but weekly infections there have fallen sixfold since July

While downward trends are encouraging, ‘we must remain vigilant and be prepared to effectively tackle any resurgence’, WHO’s regional director says

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South Africa’s strong leadership has been instrumental in combating the Covid-19 pandemic, Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa says. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:00am, 19 Sep 2020Updated: 10:24pm, 19 Sep 2020

Africa is hoping it may have seen the worst of the coronavirus pandemic as countries across the continent continue to report a slowdown in case numbers.

Even South Africa – which accounts for more than half the continent’s cases with more than 655,000 and is the world’s eighth-worst hit nation – has seen both infections and deaths fall steadily for the past six weeks.

Since July, the number of daily cases in South Africa has dropped from more than 12,000 to fewer than 2,000.

As a result there had been a significant drop in demand for hospital beds, ventilators, oxygen and other essential medical services, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.

South Africa has reported more than 655,000 coronavirus cases but the number of new infections has been falling. Photo: AP

“We have succeeded in overcoming the worst phase of this epidemic while protecting the capacity of our health system,” South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday.