Coronavirus reaches Africa
The rapidly spreading COVID-19 (coronavirus) initially seemed to be relatively non-prolific within the continent of Africa, as chaos spread across Italy and the rest of the world. However, in recent days, the status of COVID-19 has become much more significant in Africa with the situation quickly escalating in a similar manner to that of European states.
African governments are in heightened panic with the arrival of COVID-19 due to their fragile health systems and large ailing populations, which therefore places them in a much more vulnerable position to that of their European counterparts.
The continent has now recorded over 1,100 cases of COVID-19 with Egypt and South Africa being the worse hit nations, recording case numbers of 294 and 240 respectively. Due to many African countries unstable economies and delicate health systems, many of them are depending on containment techniques to ensure that the virus does not spread uncontrollably throughout their populations. The fear amongst African leaders is that if they allow the virus to spread among their populaces, they simply will not have the tools at their disposal to cope with the outbreak.
Such containment measures include Nigeria closing all airports and incoming international flights, Rwanda banning all unnecessary movements outside of homes and Uganda closing its borders to everything but cargo.
The weakness of Africa’s healthcare condition is demonstrated by the fact that South Africa is considered the continent’s best healthcare system while possessing fewer than 1,000 ICU beds for a population of over 56 million. South Africa, with a quickly enlarging COVID-19 total, have now began to accept that a dramatic spread of the virus is inevitable with their Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize saying “In any community, 60% to 70% of the community will be affected by the virus. We can’t hide that…most of us with have the virus”. Although South Africa accept isolation is the best method of dealing with the pandemic, they are concerned about the viability of this measure within the country considering the nation’s high population-density with most homes being very intimate with many friends and families living together. The projections for South Africa are very bleak, showing that if just 20% of the population becomes infected, it could see up to 176,000 people lose their lives.
In these terrifying and uncertain times within a continent as exposed as Africa, authorities must act quickly and decisively with the WHO telling African leaders to “prepare for the worst and prepare today”. Despite the limited action available for many of these countries, we must remain globally united and optimistic that we can overcome this tumultuous challenge.
by Oliver Watt