Coronavirus is spreading silently in Africa and millions of people are at risk of contracting the disease.
COVID-19 cases have doubled to 200,000 in less than three weeks and the outbreak is now spreading from urban centres into rural areas as countries reopen their economies.
World Health Organisation says 75% of the continents infections have been recorded in just 10 days.
A quarter of those infections are in South Africa with the Western Cape region including Cape Town, the hardest hit.
Overall more than 5000 people have died across the continent. The UN says a lack of testing kits remains a big problem and medical services are already stretched.
The Agency is warning that cases will continue to rise until a vaccine is found.
It took 90 days for Africa to reach 100,000 Coronavirus infections and only 19 to pass the 200,000 marks, Ahmed Idris a correspondent on Aljazeera noted.
The World Health Organization says infections in Africa are now spreading fast from urban to rural communities.
Those areas don't have adequate access to health care or awareness of preventive measures.
The biggest challenge by frontline workers in their response to #Coronavirus continues to be the availability of supplies, particularly test kits, and this is due to disruptions in the global supply chain.
"The UN has established a supply chain Task Force, and other mechanisms are in place to address these shortages including work done by the African Union.
And more than 8 million diagnostic supplies and 200 million items of personal protective equipment are in the pipeline to be shipped to African countries.
The Global Health body wants countries to act fast in implementing strong measures and enforcing social distancing." Matshidiso Moeti the W.H.O. Africa Regional Director affirmed in a press interview.
Already, many nations in Africa are reopening their economies, with more than half the population having to go out every day to feed their families, locking down entire towns and cities has proved costly.
Experts say Africa may account for less than 3% of The global infections for now, but that could change if countries are unable to control the spread.
10 of Africa 64 nations account for 75% of 206,000 infections a quarter in South Africa alone. But the continent is lagging behind in testing and early management of cases.
Health experts say the early estimation that the virus could kill up to 3 million Africans could still be avoided.
The World Health Organization, however, says there is no indication that severe cases and deaths are being missed.
In April, the COVID-19 pandemic in its worst-case scenario was estimated to kill at least 300,000 Africans and push 29 million into extreme poverty, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) projected calling for a $100 billion safety net for the continent.
The World Health Organization also warned then that Africa could see as many as 10 million cases in three to six months but with low testing in most countries, there is no way we can figure out the right numbers.
Are a larger part of African infections asymptomatic? Could it be that Africans are resistant to the SARS-CoV-2 infection given the fact that the outbreak is traced back in October 2019?
Now that the governments are allowing people to move out more freely, do we foresee discern a spike in infections? Was the lockdown duration enough for African countries to prepare for a surge of COVID-19 cases?
Most health experts the world over, fear that this is just going to get worse. The issue of testing, the capacity to do it is so minimal that silent transmission is happening at our doorsteps.
In-fact there are a lot more people shading Coronavirus into their communities that don't necessarily have symptoms, the worst is yet to come.
About the Writer...
Chris Tinka is a Producer and Editor at Fourth Television.
My decades-long career spans multiple disciplines in Mass Communication and Journalism, Computer Science, Biochemistry, Social Research and Education.
Over the years, I have worked on projects about the great lakes region’s history, exposing milestones in the fields of science and innovation.
Advocacy campaigns that uplift children and women welfare, the plight of minorities and most at-risk populations, gender equality, child and adult education, public health and governance.
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