The Morning Call
At first, there were little or no cases of coronavirus infections in Africa, something that seemed to have puzzled many public health experts around the world on how countries on the continent have largely managed to dodge the brunt of the disease. But, maybe, not anymore! There are now over 40,000 cases of the deadly coronavirus across Africa, according to data from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention released on Saturday May 2. And, the death toll? More than 1600 as the continent continues to grapple with the pandemic.
Now, are these figures encouraging, three months after the first recorded cases on the continent? And regardless of that, is Africa on track to reduce the scale of the pandemic?
The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention which coordinates pandemic responses across the continent, says there is a large gap in testing rates between nations on the continent. Testing it says plays a major role in the response to the virus, as it helps us understand how far the disease has spread. So far smaller nations like Djibouti, Mauritius Ghana, have achieved relatively and significantly better rates of testing than their larger neighbours.
Full and partial lockdowns have also been a measure adopted by several countries for a while now but that is beginning to ease in the face of economic concerns.
There are new worries and fears? Is the worst over or is the continent just about to experience its terribly fair share of the pandemic?
On this episode of The Morning Call, Dr Pierre Mpele, a public health epidemiology and tropical diseases expert is with Jerry Bambi.
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