Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Good morning and good afternoon to everyone joining this press conference on the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Africa. Bonjour et bienvenue à tous le monde.
I am pleased that we will shortly be joined for this conversation by the Honourable Dr Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, the Minister of Health of Uganda, who will speak about the COVID-19 resurgence and response in her country.
I am also happy to welcome the Honourable Minister of Health of Guinea, Dr Rémy Lamah, bonjour et bienvenue Monsieur le Ministre, who will update us on the Ebola outbreak in his country. So again, a warm welcome to both Ministers and thank you very much for being with us.
We have now surpassed 5 million COVID-19 cases in Africa and 136,000 people sadly have died.
After four weeks of consecutive increases, Africa’s third wave is surging upward and accelerating fast. New cases continent-wide are up by nearly 30% in the past week and deaths are up by 15%.
At the continental level, we are seeing a rise in cases similar to the first wave peak in July 2020 and about 50% of the second wave peak in January 2021.
Five countries account for 76% of the new cases: South Africa with 43%, followed by Tunisia, Zambia, Uganda and Namibia.
Cases are rising by over 20% week-on-week in 22 African countries. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia and Uganda have passed their second wave peaks. We will hear more on the situation in Uganda from Minister Aceng.
So, Africa is in the midst of a full blown third wave. The sobering trajectory of surging cases should rouse everyone to urgent action. We’ve seen in India and elsewhere how quickly COVID-19 can rebound and overwhelm health systems. Public health measures must be scaled-up fast to find, test, isolate and care for patients and to quickly trace and isolate their contacts.
As WHO, we are supporting countries to review and implement resurgence plans down to the district and local levels and we are pre-positioning supplies to be ready to deploy to countries that need them.
Through the UN Supply Portal coordinated by WHO, almost 19 million easy-to-use antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests are being shipped to 39 African countries to expand access to testing.
Through our regional reference COVID-19 laboratory referral network, we are working with countries to ship samples for sequencing to better understand where and to what degree variants are circulating in specific contexts. So far, the delta variant has been reported in 14 African countries, and the Beta and Alpha variants have been reported in more than 25 countries each.
We are also engaging communities through their leaders and associations, and social media channels, to promote adherence to the preventive measures and to counter rumours and misinformation, and to overcome vaccine hesitancy.
Turning to COVID-19 vaccines, Africa’s rollout is picking-up speed with over 5 million doses administered in the past five days, compared to around 3.5 million doses per week for the past three weeks. Almost 12 million people are now fully vaccinated, but this is still less than 1% of Africa’s population.
Unfortunately, 23 countries have used less than half of the doses they have received, including four of the countries experiencing a resurgence. These countries are facing logistical challenges, gaps in operational funding and vaccine hesitancy, among other factors. The rise in cases and deaths is an urgent wake up call for those lagging behind to rapidly expand vaccination sites, to reach priority groups and to respond to community concerns.
At the same time, seven African countries have already used 100% of the vaccines they received through COVAX and seven more countries have used over 80%. These countries have shown that they can move vaccines quickly and their success is linked to early planning including resource mobilization and engaging different sectors and government ministries.
In Angola for instance, mobile vaccination has helped to reach priority populations outside of capital cities and digital platforms are being used to register vaccinations and map vaccination sites. In Rwanda cold chain capacities have been enhanced, and several countries with high demand for vaccines, have actively engaged communities and addressed misinformation head on.
As WHO, we are supporting inter-country learning and experience sharing so that the vaccine rollout can speed-up everywhere. Africa needs millions more doses here and now to curb the third wave, and best practice approaches will be key to making the most of the available vaccines.
I thank you once again for joining us today and very much look forward to our conversation.
Après l’allocution du Ministre guinéen de la santé
Dans deux jours à peine, nous devrions célébrer la fin de la flambée de maladie à virus Ebola en Guinée.
Je tiens à adresser mes sincères félicitations à la Guinée et aux premiers intervenants qui ont aidé à endiguer la flambée en prenant un risque personnel très élevé. Merci également à nos partenaires qui ont apporté un soutien financier et technique à la riposte.
Cette flambée d’Ebola s’est déclarée au même endroit que celle de l’Afrique de l’Ouest qui avait tué 11 000 personnes. Grâce à de nouvelles innovations et aux enseignements tirés, la Guinée a réussi à contenir le virus en quatre mois seulement, empêchant ainsi la maladie de se propager au-delà des frontières du pays. Nous sommes devenus plus rapides, plus efficaces et plus intelligents dans la lutte contre Ebola.
La riposte rapide et coordonnée de la Guinée à la flambée témoigne du savoir-faire national croissant dans la gestion des situations d’urgence sanitaire. Lors de la dernière flambée, les agents en première ligne réalisaient rapidement des tests de dépistage d’Ebola, traitaient les patients et assuraient le suivi des contacts et des survivants. La vaccination des personnes à haut risque a commencé neuf jours après la déclaration de la flambée, et près de 11 000 personnes sont désormais vaccinées.
So, I’d just like to say that the six countries bordering Guinea also ramped up preparedness measures, stepping-up surveillance and screening at border crossings and within high-risk communities.
Our work, however is far from over. In the past months, new information came to light telling us that these cases were linked to the 2014–2016 outbreak. So, we must continue to support survivors, monitor their health, and check for the disease’s presence without creating unfair stigma. Our teams are also finalizing a 90-day resilience post-epidemic plan to support local health authorities, health workers and communities.
I believe we should be proud of the work that brought this outbreak under control, while Guinea simultaneously battled a Lassa Fever outbreak and continues to fight COVID-19. To prevent and mitigate the impacts of future outbreaks, a collective effort is needed to strengthen the delivery of health services.