The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday warned that the actual number of COVID-19 cases in African countries is much more than announced due to low testing in the continent, reported Anadolu Agency.
It warned that over 40 African nations are facing a potential resurgence in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic despite a decline in the number of confirmed cases across the continent.
In the risk assessment of 46 countries in Africa, the WHO found that three countries face a very high risk of COVID-19 resurgence, 20 face high risk, 22 moderate risks, and only one country faces low risk.
“Most countries in the [African] region are experiencing community transmission, yet 31 out of the 46 countries analyzed performed fewer than 10 tests per 10,000 people per week in the past four weeks,” the WHO revealed.
It added that the number of cases reported in the past 28 days may not reflect the true situation as countries continue to target only people with symptoms for testing.
The analysis suggests that the risk of COVID-19 resurgence remains high in many African countries due to low testing, poor adherence to public health measures, mass gatherings such as recent political rallies in countries like Benin, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Kenya.
The WHO said that the African continent, with over 4.5 million reported coronavirus cases and more than 120,000 deaths to date, has not witnessed a surge in reported cases since January and the epidemic curve has stabilized for six weeks.
The global health body said that the relatively low number of cases has encouraged complacency and there are signs of reduced observance of preventive measures across many African countries.
“We cannot be lulled into a false sense of security as the continent’s case count appears stable,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, W.H.O. Regional Director for Africa. “The devastating surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths in India, and increases in other regions of the world, are clear signs of the risk of resurgence in Africa.
