Even though there has not been a confirmed case of the new coronavirus in Africa, global health authorities are increasingly worried about the threat to the continent where an estimated one million Chinese now live.
Over the years, China has forged financial and political ties in many African countries, raising the risk of exposure to the new virus. According to Bloomberg, about 20 countries on the continent have already issued alerts of possible cases, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is growing increasingly concerned over Africa’s preparedness to handle an influx of coronavirus cases.
“We are not waiting for an outbreak,” said Amadou Sall, a director at Institut Pasteur de Dakar, a biomedical research center in Senegal. “We’re anticipating it.”
The BBC reports that Michael Yao, WHO’s head of emergency operations in Africa, notes that some countries on the continent “have the minimum to start with – they’re not starting from scratch.”
Up until last week, there were only two laboratories in Africa that had the reagents needed to test samples for coronavirus – The Institut Pasteur de Dakar, in Senegal, and another one in South Africa. This week, four other countries, Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone have announced they can also conduct tests.
High-risk countries identified by WHO
Thirteen nations, including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia have been identified by the WHO as especially at risk and as priority zones for stopping the spread of the virus.
In a Chinese-run hospital in Zambia, health workers have been ordered not to speak publicly about the new virus that has killed hundreds around the world. CBC Canada is reporting that a Zambian official acknowledged for the first time that his country was following up on an unspecified number of suspected cases.
The African continent has seen more than its share of infectious disease outbreaks, yet, over the years, it has also made a lot of progress in dealing with highly pathogenic viruses.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that began in 2018 has infected about 3,350 people and killed 2,210. Seven out of 10 nations surrounding the DRC’s borders have constructed isolation facilities and have trained staff to man them. In 2019, the DRC contended with over 6,000 cases of measles, while Mozambique faced a surge in reported cholera cases after it was hit by a tropical cyclone.
The WHO is sending testing kits to 29 laboratories on the continent to ensure they have the capacity to deal with the virus. It is hoped that by later this month, 36 nations will have the ability to carry out tests specific to the coronavirus.
The Nigerian Red Cross Society says it has placed one million volunteers on alert. Its Secretary-General Abubakar Ahmed Kende said this mobilization would help to contain the spread of the virus and hopefully contain the spread of Lassa fever across the country.
