Africa Should Prepare For The Worst – WHO Director-General

“Don’t assume your community won’t be affected. Prepare as if it will be. Don’t assume you won’t be infected. Prepare as if you will,” said Tedros Adhanom, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General.

“We probably have undetected cases. We have to prepare for the worst. In other countries, we have seen actually how the virus accelerates after a certain tipping point. So, the best advice for Africa is to prepare for the worst,” he added.

As the deadly Coronavirus continues to sweep across the world, in Africa, the number of confirmed cases is still below 600 with only two deaths so far.

According to WHO, Africa might be looking at a crisis given that most of the tests being carried out are not as thorough as in other countries that have registered higher numbers. There are concerns that the numbers are in thousands.

The presence of Coronavirus in Africa was first reported in Egypt. Egypt now has 196 confirmed cases and one death. South Africa has 116 cases, Algeria 72, Morocco 49, Senegal 31, Burkina Faso 20, Cameroon 10, Rwanda 8, Democratic Republic of Congo 7, and Kenya 7.

Here is the list of African countries with the number of infections from the highest to the lowest:

1. Egypt – 196
2. South Africa – 116
3. Algeria – 72
4. Morocco – 49
5. Senegal – 31
6. Burkina Faso – 20
7. Cameroon – 10
8. Rwanda – 8
9. Democratic Republic of Congo – 7
10. Ghana – 7
11. Kenya – 7
12. Ivory Coast – 6
13. Ethiopia – 6
14. Seychelles – 4
15. Congo – 3
16. Tanzania – 3
17. Liberia – 2
18. Namibia – 2
19. Zambia – 2
20. Benin – 1
21. Central African Republic – 1
22. Equatorial Guinea – 1
23. Eswatini – 1
24. Gabon – 1
25. Guinea – 1
26. Gambia – 1
27. Mauritania – 1
28. Somalia – 1
29. Sudan – 1
30. Togo – 1

Globally, the virus has killed more than 8,000 people with the number of confirmed infection cases moving past 200,000. China is still the most affected followed by Italy.

In Italy, the government is considering not admitting Coronavirus patients who are 80 years and above into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as pressure from the virus continues to mount.

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