Coronavirus: Africa, at first spared, now confronts outbreaks all over the continent
- Since May 1, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana have all more than doubled their coronavirus cases
- ‘Covid-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several years unless a proactive approach is taken,’ WHO’s director for Africa said
From South Africa to Ghana to Nigeria, African countries are scrambling to contain the Covid-19 outbreak as hotspots emerge across the continent.
In Ghana, more than 500 workers at a fish factory tested positive for coronavirus; in South Africa, Cape Town has become the nation’s coronavirus epicentre. In East Africa, there is growing concern that truck drivers, who transport cargo across borders, have been super-spreaders of the pandemic.
Initially, Africa was not hit as hard as the United States, Europe and parts of Asia, but in the past two weeks or so, the continent has seen a steep increase in new cases. With the announcement Wednesday that Lesotho has its first confirmed case of Covid-19, all 54 countries on the continent have now reported cases.
Most African countries have imposed nationwide lockdowns, grounded international flights, banned large gatherings and taken other measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. And it seemed to be working. At the start of May, Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, had 39,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,640 deaths.
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But as of Tuesday, less than two weeks later, cases had jumped to more than 70,000 and deaths rose to 2,389. Several nations have fragile health care systems, with a lack of medical staff and equipment, and have been forced to rely on foreign aid for testing kits and equipping laboratories and hospitals.