The World Health Organization voiced alarm Friday at surging COVID-19 cases across Africa, with the spread of new more contagious variants even as vaccination rates remain dangerously low.
“It’s a trajectory that is very, very concerning,” WHO’s emergencies chief Michael Ryan told reporters from the organization’s headquarters in Geneva.
According to WHO data, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Africa rose to over 116,500 in the week ending June 13, up from nearly 91,000 the previous week.
Ryan stressed that in terms of absolute numbers, the region did not necessarily look like it was in bad shape, accounting for just over five percent of new global cases and 2.2 percent of global deaths last week.
However, he warned, across the continent, the trajectory was pointing straight up, with over 100-percent increases in a range of countries, and over 50 percent in others.
“This is a phenomenon occurring across the continent,” he said.
Africa has been hit less hard by the pandemic than most other regions, recording over 136,000 deaths from some 5.1 million cases so far.
WHO’s regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti warned earlier this week that the continent was “in the midst of a full-blown third wave.”
The WHO said “a lack of adherence to transmission prevention measures has fuelled the new surge that coincides with colder seasonal weather in southern Africa and as more contagious variants spread.”
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