The warnings have been many. A widespread wave of infections on the African continent could have dramatic consequences.
Now a record high spread of the delta variant raises new concerns.
Last week, an average of just over 36,000 daily cases of infection were reported in African countries. It has more than quadrupled since mid-May.
– The extent of Africa’s third wave is unlike anything we have seen before. The violent spread of more contagious varieties raises the threat to a whole new level, says WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, in a statement.
Turns full alarm
– Unlike everything we have seen before
21 African countries are now experiencing a third wave of infection. Uganda, Congo, Namibia, Rwanda and Tunisia are among the hardest hit, according to BBC.
Last week, South Africa accounted for about half of the registered cases of infection on the continent. Especially in the province of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, the infection has skyrocketed.
South Africa is one of the few African countries that conducts extensive testing, and which can therefore be said to have an overview of the infection situation and which mutations are spreading.
Several other countries do not have access to the necessary tools or resources.
The health care system in several countries is becoming overloaded as a result of the development, he writes The Guardian.
Hit by lightning: – Suddenly we were lying there
Therefore, the third wave strikes harder
The African Infection Control Agency has also sounded the alarm about increasing mortality. Among the 55 countries they monitor, 21 report a mortality rate that is higher than the global average – despite inadequate registration of corona-related deaths.
Last week, Assistant Director of Health Espen Rostrup Nakstad highlighted lower travel activity and the young population as possible explanations that Africa came out better from the first and second wave of infection.
– Now it is a little different, because now the coronavirus is found all over the world, in addition to the fact that we have an even more contagious variant, which can also lead to people under 50 years can end up in hospital, Nakstad told Dagbladet.
He reminded that large outbreaks elsewhere can indirectly have consequences for Norway, if new virus variants arise that can lead to new waves of infection.
– Needs immediate action
The WHO believes that the spread of the delta variant has contributed to the recent increase in the number of infected and corona-related deaths.
WHO Director Tedro’s Adhanom Ghebreyesus also highlights measures of fatigue, ineffective measures and a lack of vaccines, according to BBC.
Eight vaccines have been approved for emergency use by the WHO, but deliveries to Africa have not been overwhelming. Only 15 million people, about 1.2 percent of Africa’s population, are fully vaccinated.
Most African countries have received their vaccines through the Covax partnership. These have mainly come from India, which put the export of vaccines on hold when precarious needs arose in their own country.
At the end of June, Minister for Development Aid Dag Inge Ullstein announced that Norway will donate 452,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to low-income countries through the Covax collaboration. These are shipped to Nicaragua, Uganda and Haiti.
– The third wave has arrived with a severity that most countries were not prepared for, so the third wave is extremely brutal, said director of the African Infection Control Agency John Nkengasong during a press conference at the end of June.
– Let me put it bluntly: We do not win the battle against the virus in Africa, so it does not really matter to me if the vaccines come from Covax or elsewhere. All we need is quick access to vaccines.
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