Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Greetings to all our journalist colleagues, bonjour à nos collègues journalistes and everyone joining this press conference, particularly our colleagues from the APO Group. We will be talking today, mainly about the new COVID-19 variants circulating in Africa and their potential impact on the situation including the surge in new cases.
I am very pleased to be joined by Professor Tulio de Oliveira, who is the Director of KRISP at Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in South Africa and by Dr Amadou Sall, who is the Director of Institut Pasteur in Senegal.
In the past week, more than 175,000 new COVID-19 cases and 6200 deaths have been reported on the African continent, with countries particularly in North and Southern parts of Africa accounting for the biggest increases. Cumulatively there are now almost 3.5 million cases and 88,000 lives, unfortunately, have been lost.
WHO is tracking the emergence of different variants of the COVID-19 virus and updating guidance and strategies as new information becomes available. We are seeing more and more cases of variant N501Y.V2, which was first identified in South Africa now cropping up in other countries. So far six African countries and areas have confirmed cases of this variant, including Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mayotte and Zambia.
Beyond Africa, the variant has been confirmed in 24 countries globally, and there is concern it is circulating in other countries in Africa as yet undetected. So, at WHO we are working with countries to help them identify if this variant or others are circulating, to safely transport samples to referral laboratories for sequencing and analysis.
The variant of concern first identified in the United Kingdom, has also made its way to Africa, with confirmed cases in the Gambia.
The evidence suggests that these variants are more transmissible, and emerging evidence indicates the UK variant may cause more severe illness than other common strains although certainly more research needs to be done.
Encouragingly, this week, at least two manufacturers have indicated that their vaccines are effective against both variants.
In addition to the new variants, COVID-19 fatigue in the population, and the aftermath of year-end gatherings and travel, risk powering a perfect storm and driving up Africa’s second wave and overwhelming health systems and facilities.
It is important that all countries ramp-up testing, isolation of contacts and treatment of patients, as well as preventive measures such as minimizing large gatherings.
At WHO we are working very hard with countries to prepare for delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and we encourage all countries to do their best to be ready to roll these vaccines out to communities once they are available.
We particularly encourage the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to prepare for the vaccine, to put in place the preventive measures to protect their population, and to share data on the COVID-19 situation with WHO and neighboring countries.
Africa is at a crossroads and all Africans must double-down on the prevention measures that work so well – physical distancing, frequent hand hygiene, and the wearing of masks.
I very much look forward to our conversation with our two experts and also with members of our team in WHO, who will be ready to jump in and also respond to any questions. Thank you very much.