African Health Facilities at Risk from Covid-19 Surge - WHO

As the risk of a surge in Covid-19 cases increases, African countries must urgently boost critical care capacity to prevent health facilities from being overwhelmed. This comes as vaccine shipments to the continent grind to a near halt, the World Health Organisation has said in a statement.

Weak observance of preventive measures, increased population movement and interaction as well as the arrival of winter in southern Africa have heightened the risk of Covid-19 resurgence in many countries. In the last two weeks, Africa recorded a 20% increase in cases compared with the previous fortnight. The pandemic is trending upwards in 14 countries and in the past week alone, eight countries witnessed an abrupt rise of over 30% in cases. South Africa is reporting a sustained increase in cases, while Uganda saw a 131% week-on-week rise last week, with infection clusters in schools, rising cases among health workers and isolation centres and intensive care units filling up. Angola and Namibia are also experiencing a resurgence in cases.

As of June 7, 2021, confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the continent total 4,920,212. Recoveries to date total 4,441,583 while 132,308 fatalities have been recorded and 24,865,188 vaccines have been administered.

InFocus

The 60-bed Khayelitsha Field Hospital was developed by MSF to support the nearby Khayelitsha District Hospital to cope with the pressures of peak Covid-19 transmission in the Western Cape (file photo).

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