19, April 2020
Africa’s coronavirus cases pass 20,000 mark, deaths hit 1,000 0
Confirmed cases of coronavirus passed the 20,000 mark barely 24-hours after the deaths topped 1,000. This is according to tallies from the John Hopkins University tracker.
The figures as of 13:30 GMT stood at 100,075 with 4,600+ recoveries and 1,026 deaths leaving a little over 13,350 active cases.
Egypt remained the continent’s most impacted whiles the North African region generally contributed for some of the highest numbers. Egypt with 2,844 cases, Morocco with 2,600+ cases and Algeria with 2,418 confirmed cases.
South of the Sahara, South Africa’s 2,700+ cases was the highest with Cameroon in a distant second with 1,017, Ivory Coast’s 732, Djibouti’s 732 and Ghana’s 641 completed the top five slots.
Meanwhile the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, has warned that cases could spike across the continent as more testing is rolled out in the coming weeks.
Africa could see 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus this year even under the best-case scenario, according to a new report released Friday that cites modeling from Imperial College London.
Under the worst-case scenario with no interventions against the virus, Africa could see 3.3 million deaths and 1.2 billion infections, the report by the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa said.
Even with “intense social distancing.” under the best-case scenario the continent could see more than 122 million infections, the report said.
Any of the scenarios would overwhelm Africa’s largely fragile and underfunded health systems, experts have warned. Under the best-case scenario, $44 billion would be needed for testing, personal protective equipment and treatment, the report said, citing UNECA estimates. The worst-case scenario would cost $446 billion.
Source: Africa News
20, April 2020
Coronavirus exposes ‘weaknesses’ in health systems 0
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed “systemic weaknesses” in global health systems, the G20 said Monday, but there was no mention of Washington’s contentious decision to halt World Health Organization funding.
The statement came after health ministers from the 20 most advanced economies held a virtual meeting on Sunday hosted by the group’s current president Saudi Arabia following criticism the institution was slow to address the pandemic.
“Health Ministers recognised that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted systemic weaknesses in health systems,” they said in a joint statement.
“It also has shown vulnerabilities in the global community’s ability to prevent and respond to pandemic threats.
“Ministers addressed the need to improve the effectiveness of global health systems by sharing knowledge and closing the gap in response capabilities and readiness.”
The worldwide death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 164,016 on Sunday, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
More than 2,363,210 declared cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December.
The novel coronavirus has upended the lives of billions of people as nations imposed lockdown measures to curb its spread, sending the global economy into a tailspin.
The G20 statement was silent on US President Donald Trump’s decision last week to cut off Washington’s bilateral funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Trump has accused the UN body of mishandling the coronavirus crisis.
The US contributed $400 million to the WHO last year.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has condemned the US suspension of funds, saying it was “not the time to reduce” the WHO’s resources.
The WHO remained “absolutely critical” in the global fight against the virus, he said.
Source: AFP