 |
BRAZZAVILLE, Sept 9 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — More than 200,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Africa since the start of the pandemic, according to official records.
The 54 countries of the region may not have suffered as badly as other parts of the world at least according to the officially recorded figures. They seem to have avoided the catastrophic scenarios some feared at the start of the pandemic.
But Africa, home to more than 1.3 billion people, has still recorded a total of 200,254 deaths since the virus emerged in China in December 2019.
The worldwide total stands at more than 4.57 million.
After several deadly months, including some 27,000 deaths in July and 26,000 in August, the pandemic appears to be easing on the continent, with current daily figures of 617 compared to as many as 990 in late July, a record for the region.
The figures are based on tolls communicated daily day by health authorities in each country or by the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) and include the countries of North Africa.
The current drop in the continent’s tally is a result of declining numbers in the hardest-hit countries.
South Africa has recorded 83,899 deaths so far. But last week’s daily average of 7,400 new cases and 234 deaths are significantly lower than in late July when the daily average was as many as 20,000 new cases and 420 deaths.
The decrease has been even more striking in Tunisia, which has recorded a daily average of 1,680 cases and 64 deaths: declines of 41 percent and 39 percent respectively from the previous week.
The figures are well below those of July, which were described by the government as “catastrophic”, with as many as 7,900 cases and 207 deaths daily.
Tunisia’s summer was also marked by a sharp acceleration in its vaccination drive, with nearly 37 percent of the population having received at least one dose, compared to just 11 percent on July 1.
Africa has seen the lowest vaccination rate to date of all the continents, with only eight jabs administered per 100 inhabitants, compared with 102 in Europe and 116 in the United States and Canada.
According to the WHO, around three percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population are fully vaccinated. By comparison, 52 percent of people are fully vaccinated in the United States of America and 57 percent in the European Union.
“The inequity is deeply disturbing. Just two percent of the over five billion doses given globally have been administered in Africa,” WHO Africa chief Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said last week.
Last week, the WHO said 42 of the continent’s 54 nations were set to miss their vaccination targets.
“Vaccine hoarding has held Africa back and we urgently need more vaccines,” said Moeti. — NNN-AFRICANEWS