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JOHANNESBURG: The coronavirus could smoulder in Africa for years and take a high death toll across the continent, the World Health Organisation has warned.
The virus is spreading in Africa, but so far the continent has not seen a dramatic explosion in the number of confirmed cases.
More than 52,000 confirmed infections and 2,074 virus-related deaths have been reported by African countries, according to figures released on Friday by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The total number of cases has risen by more than 42 percent in the past week.
The disease appears to be spreading more slowly across Africa than in Europe, according to the WHO report. Officials say that could be due to poor surveillance or less developed transport links.
While Covid-19 likely wont spread as exponentially in Africa as it has elsewhere in the world, it likely will smoulder in transmission hotspots, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa who is based in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. She said outbreaks would likely peak about one month after the virus starts spreading widely in communities.