Sep 25, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — The World health Organization has cited social and environmental factors as the reasons why Covid-19 infections are low in the Africa.
Speaking during WHO media briefing, the regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Rebecca Natalie, said that the early and strong public health measures taken by governments across the region have also helped to curving the spread of the virus.
Earlier projects claimed that the virus affects older people, mostly above 60 years old, but 91 % of covid 19 infections in Sub Saharan Africa are below 60 years old and over 80% of the cases are asymptomatic.
The regional director noted that after some countries started easing restrictions, there were spikes in Covid -9 infections.
“After starting to ease restrictions in May and June, in order for its clearly imperative ready to protect livelihoods and economies, countries have started to reopen and some countries like South Africa, Algeria, Mauritania, and Ghana experienced an increase in Covid 19 cases and we are seeing those countries in the region with decreasing cases,” She said.
Matshidiso added that more research is underway to test those communities in the region whether they have antibodies helping them fight the virus so as to understand if so many infections could be going unnoticed.
She added that it is possible that the organization is missing out on so many people who could be infected but not detected as some early results suggested a higher number of infections than those that are reported, saying that further research is needed.
“As some early results suggest a higher number of infections than those that are being reported in countries like Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia. But to extrapolate these findings to the national level, we think that further research is headed going beyond urban areas including in rural areas where transmissions seems to be lower.” Added the Matshidiso Rebecca.
WHO had reported over 1.4 million confirmed Covid-19 cases on the continent with more than 1.1 million recoveries. Sadly, over 34,000 deaths have been reported.
