Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Good afternoon and thank you to all the journalists who are connecting with us for this press conference this afternoon.
This week marks six months since the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported on the African continent.
There are now more than 1,070,000 reported cases and more than 23,000 people have sadly lost their lives in Africa. South Africa remains the most affected country, though in the last 14 days we have seen a gradual decline in the average daily cases. So, although we are cautiously optimistic, now is the time when we should support the country to accelerate interventions to reduce the cases in the hotspots.
We also have countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Mauritius, Uganda and Seychelles that have all turned the curve around after seeing either a spike in clusters or community spread and are reporting fewer cases than in previous months.
In the same period globally, cases have increased from 40,000 to 20 million. So, the progression of the epidemic on the continent is slower than in other parts of the world, obviously with the exception of South Africa, and this is thanks to the concerted actions of African governments, of communities, with the support of partners.
Even before the first cases were reported in Africa, at WHO, we were working with countries to strengthen their readiness capacities. In February, we surveyed countries and the average readiness score was about 62% (across areas like points-of-entry, infection prevention and control, laboratory testing, isolation and case management). Six months later it has improved to 78% at the national level, with further action needed at the provincial and district levels.
This progress is due to work that is underway in countries. In Cameroon for instance, fewer new cases are being reported, but the Government is continuing to strengthen surveillance to detect any flare-ups, including through deploying mobile surveillance teams.
In Ethiopia, another example, there are now 45 laboratories equipped to diagnose COVID-19 and in Nigeria, there are 61. Six months ago, only two laboratories in the African Region, in South Africa and Senegal, could test for this virus.
Ghana is establishing over 70 treatment centres, among which 57 are now operational, in addition to 12 isolation units.
Seychelles, another example, has kept cases low, leveraging their strong primary health care network to diagnose and care for patients and repurposing two hospitals as treatment centres.
Access to medical oxygen is also improving, with the number of oxygen plants in the Region rising from 68 to 119 and the availability of oxygen concentrators having doubled from 3000 to close to 6000. Of the total requests received for oxygen concentrators, 88% have been actioned.
Communities have also shown fortitude and care for one another, in sometimes extremely challenging circumstances, in adhering to public health and social measures, and playing their role in slowing the spread of this virus.
Looking forward, we need to sustain this momentum on COVID-19, even as movement and gathering restrictions are eased, and to continue expanding public health capacities beyond capital cities into the hinterland in countries, while continuing to adjust to this new normal and mitigating the socio-economic impacts of this crisis.
We also need to regain the focus on other significant issues. The Ebola outbreak in Equateur province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo now stands at 84 cases and 36 lives lost. Malaria outbreaks are ongoing in several countries and there are reports of increased pregnancies among adolescent girls, linked to schools remaining closed.
Where possible, capacities should be built-in integrated ways so that investments for the COVID-19 response also benefit other priorities and contribute to strengthening health systems. In every community, primary health care is the first line of defence to prevent disease and improve well-being. Investing in these systems will serve us well in the fight against COVID-19 and other health threats and will strengthen the foundations for national development.
So again, thank you so much for having joined us.