A regional World Health Organization (WHO) official on Thursday said the number of coronavirus cases in Africa is likely expected to increase from thousands now to 10 million in three to six months’ time according to very provisional modeling, reported Reuters.
But Michel Yao, who is the head of emergency operations for WHO Africa, said that the number was a tentative projection and could likely change in future. He noted that worst-case predictions for the Ebola outbreak had not come true because people changed behavior in time.
“This is still to be fine-tuned,” Yao told a media teleconference. “It’s difficult to make a long-term estimation because the context changes too much and also public health measures when they are fully implemented, they can actually have an impact.”
Africa has reported over 17,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and about 900 deaths so far, relatively fewer cases as compared to some other regions. But poor health services in various African countries are feared to result in more and more coronavirus cases in the future.
“We are concerned that the virus continues to spread geographically, within countries,” said Matshidiso Moeti, director for WHO’s Africa region, which comprises 46 sub-Saharan nations and Algeria. “The numbers continue to increase every day.”
The number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa, which has the highest number of cases, has slowed after it began a strict lockdown. But other African nations like Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Algeria have seen higher than average fatalities.
Moeti said the WHO is already working with authorities in Africa to improve patient care and reduce fatalities. She warned that the U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw funding for the WHO could harm both the fight against other deadly diseases like polio, HIV and malaria.
WHO’s Moeti said the impact of Trump’s decision will be quite significant in areas such as polio eradication, especially at a time when Africa is close to being declared polio-free.
