Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

AU: 2nd COVID Wave Hits Africa Hard, Deaths Exceed Global Average


Thu 21 Jan 2021 | 10:38 PM
Ahmed Moamar

Today, Thursday, the African Union's Center for Disease Control and Prevention described the second wave of the Corona pandemic as appearing to be more deadly on the African continent.

The director of the center, John Nkengasung, said during a press conference, that the death rate from the Corona pandemic is 2.5% of the infections recorded by the continent, indicating that it is higher than the global rate of 2.2%.

According to the agency, "Agence France Presse", (AFP) the number of cases recorded in Africa increased by 14% per week over the past month.

Africa has been officially the least affected continent of the world by the pandemic since its appearance, with 3.3 million infections and nearly 82,000 deaths, according to the center.

However, the current death rate represents a difference from the rate that the continent witnessed during the first wave of the pandemic, as the continent's death rate remained below the global average, according to the director of the center.

Nkengasung said that the continent is witnessing a transformation, which is one of the salient features of the second wave, noting that 21 countries on the continent are suffering a death rate that exceeds the global average of 2.2%.

According to the African center, Sudan has a mortality rate of 6.2%, Egypt is 5.5%, and Liberia is 4.4%.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of the failure of Africa to catch up in the race to obtain vaccines for the novel Coronavirus, noting that the organization and "Jaffe" are calling for urgent access to safe and effective vaccines in the African continent.

The organization said through its official Twitter account: "Africa is at risk of being left behind in the race to obtain COVID- 19 vaccines.

Countries in other regions around the world conclude bilateral deals, which leads to high prices, the WHO asks for urgent access to safe and effective vaccines on the continent.