Coronavirus: Algeria becomes Africa’s worst affected country as fears grow over impact on continent
- The country’s sharp increase in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks mirrors a pattern seen elsewhere that has prompted the WHO to warn it could cause ‘devastation’ across the continent
- Fragile health systems risk being overwhelmed and political turmoil and falling oil revenues threaten to compound the danger
Algeria has become the country with the highest Covid-19 death toll in Africa after a sharp rise in cases over the past few weeks, but experts warned that the disease now threatens to overwhelm fragile health care systems across the continent as the spread accelerates.
As of Sunday it had recorded 1,914 confirmed cases and 293 deaths, a 15.3 per cent fatality rate that is one of the highest in the world and far in excess of the World Health Organisation’s estimated global average of 3.4 per cent.
Its north African neighbours also have some of the highest number of cases on the continent, with Egypt having 2,065 infections and 159 deaths, followed by 1,661 cases and 118 deaths in Morocco.
However, the WHO has warned that the disease has the “potential to cause thousands of deaths and unleash economic and social devastation” across the continent.
South Africa, which has carried out more tests than any other country on the continent, has the highest number of cases in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 2,173 people infected and 25 fatalities.