COVID-19: Africa’s Cases Rise More Than 11,900 Says WHO

• COVID-19: Africa’s Cases Rise More Than 11,900 Says WHO

The total number of infected Africans rose more than 11,900 on Friday, according to the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa.

The organisation gave the update on its official twitter page @WHOAFRO on Friday.

“COVID19 cases in Africa rise to over 11,900 – with 1,586 recoveries and 608 deaths reported,” it said.

A breakdown of the agency dashboard showed South Africa, Algeria and Cameroon have the highest number of cases.

South Africa’s confirmed cases rose to 1,934 with 18 deaths as of Friday. This was followed by 1,666 cases and 235 deaths recorded in Algeria while Cameroon number inched to 730 with 10 deaths.

In a statement published on the agency website, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: “Its spread beyond major cities means the opening of a new front in our fight against this virus.

“This requires a decentralised response, which is tailored to the local context.

“Communities need to be empowered and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to outbreaks locally,” Moeti said.

Meanwhile the total number of confirmed cases rose to 288 in Nigeria on Thursday, according to the nation’s disease control.

WHO noted that Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia had decentralised testing to allow multiple labs test people.

“These combined measures will ensure the rapid identification of cases, the tracking down and quarantining of contacts and the isolation and treatment of patients.

“It is also crucial that people are provided with accurate information which will promote healthy behaviours.

“Protection of health workers is a vital component of the response and when governments implement physical distancing measures, the basic needs of people should be taken into account,” WHO noted.