The Secretary-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) told the African Continent to stop taking the Coronavirus pandemic lightly and prepare for the worst.
According to WHO, the low infection rate in Africa is making some African countries think that “the virus is not that serious about Africa,” and are, therefore, relaxing.
Even before the warning from WHO settles among many, things seem to be going south in South Africa as the deadly Coronavirus continues to sweep across the country.
As of Saturday, South Africa had a total of 240 confirmed Coronavirus cases, an increase of 38 new cases in less than 24 hours with the Ministry of Health of South Africa saying that more cases are expected.
“As of today, South Africa now has 240 confirmed cases of COVID-19. This means there has been an increase of 38 from yesterday’s announcement. It is also notable that the Eastern Cape has its first confirmed case. This patient is a a 28-year-old female who had traveled to Germany,” said the Ministry of Health.
Of the 240 confirmed cases, 92 are women (female) while 148 are men. The most affected province is Gauteng with 125 cases followed by Western Cape with 74 cases. Kwa Zulu Natal is third with 27 cases according to the figures released by the ministry of health.
So far, the total number of confirmed cases in Africa are above 1,000 from just 600 two days ago. WHO says the least number of confirmed cases does not mean that there are few infected individuals saying that some African countries might not be carrying out tests properly.
Currently, Italy is still the most hit country in the world after overtaking China in the number of deaths. In 24 hours on Friday, a total of 627 people died (26 deaths per hour) taking the death toll in Italy to more than 4,000. Globally, the death toll is approaching past 13,000 with infections approaching 290,000.