Docsun Biomed Report On COVID 19 Pandemic Control in Africa 2022

JHUBEI CITY, Taiwan - Feb. 24, 2022 - PRLog -- Africa identified its first case of COVID-19 (14 February 2020), the World Health Organization (WHO) finds that, if current trends continue, the continent can control the pandemic in 2022. However, WHO warned that continued vigilance is key.

Over the last two years, the continent has witnessed four waves of COVID-19, each with higher peaks or more total new cases than the previous one. The surges have been mostly driven by new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus—which were highly transmissible though not necessarily more fatal than prior waves. Each subsequent wave has triggered a response that has been more effective than the previous, with each surge shorter by 23% on average from the one before. While the first wave lasted about 29 weeks, the fourth wave was over in six weeks, or about a fifth of the time.

When Africa experienced its first wave, attributed to the spread of the wild SARS-CoV-2 virus, the average case fatality ratio (CFR)—or the proportion of infected people who die from COVID-19—was high (2.5%). That figure rose to 2.7% during the Beta-driven second wave, before going back down to 2.4% during the Delta-powered third wave. In contrast, the average CFR during the fourth wave is low (0.8%), representing the first time a wave's surge in cases has not led to a commensurate increase in hospitalizations and deaths.

Since the start of the pandemic, the continent's capacity to manage COVID-19 cases has gradually improved, with the increased availability of trained health workers, oxygen and other medical supplies. The number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds has increased across the continent, from 8 per 1 million people in 2020 to 20 today. WHO has also helped increase the number of oxygen production plants in Africa from 68 to 115 – a 60% rise – through supporting the repair, maintenance and procurement of new oxygen plants. Where plants have been set-up, the cost of oxygen has decreased by 40%.

The most powerful weapon against the emergence of new variants is vaccination. To date, around 672 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been received in Africa, of which 65% were facilitated by COVAX, 29% via bilateral deals and 6% though the African Union's Vaccines Acquisition Trust.

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Original links to the article: - https://www.afro.who.int/news/africa-track-control-covid-19-pandemic-2022