Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Good afternoon and thank you to all the journalists and members of the public for joining us for this press conference.
I am very pleased to be joined today by my dear colleague, Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari, who is the Regional Director of WHO for the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Together we are responsible for WHO’s work in the 54 countries of the African continent.
We want to reiterate the urgent need for international solidarity in support of African countries, both to respond to COVID-19, and to address the broader socio-economic consequences of this crisis.
Today marks six months since WHO declared novel coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. At that time there were no confirmed cases in Africa.
Now, there are almost 890,000 reported cases and about 18,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 on the continent. In the coming week, cases are projected to pass the one million mark. As this critical signpost approaches, governments, partners and communities must work together to suppress COVID-19 transmission and mitigate the impacts of this pandemic on individuals, families, households and economies.
In the past 25 days, cases have doubled. South Africa continues to account for the majority of cases, but the rate of increase has slowed with fewer new cases reported in the past 7 days than in the previous week.
However, in over 20 African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya and Madagascar, there were more new cases in the past 7 days than in the previous week.
We are seeing in Africa and in other parts of the world that when measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission are eased, cases creep up, so it is important that authorities and all communities have the capacities in place to react quickly and comprehensively with strong surveillance, testing, isolation, and contact tracing. These are the key strategies that need to be in place.
As we adjust together to this new normal, I ask that governments, partners and communities globally keep in mind that no-one is safe, until we are all safe. It is imperative that with international solidarity, we focus on equity and serving the most vulnerable among us.
In closing, I would like to wish all our Muslim brothers and sisters celebrating tomorrow “Eid Mubarak”.
I look forward to our discussion and again it’s a great pleasure to be with you Ahmed and thank you all very much for having joined us today.