As per march 23rd, the covid 19 outbreak has claimed more than 15,000 lives and affected more than 400,000 people worldwide. With Europe now the epicentre of the outbreak and china where the pandemic is believed to have originated, slowly getting back to normal , little focus seems to be given to Africa which on its side has about 1300 confirmed cases. Madagascar, Mali, Burundi, Botswana, Western Sahara and Libya as per mar.23rd are the only African countries not to have at least a confirmed case with Nigeria, DRC ,Egypt, Zimbabwe and Ghana all confirming fatalities. Whether Africa, should be treated as a footnote to this growing pandemic , depends on which perspective you have, but one thing is for sure, the continent of 1.2 billion is surely at risk.
The measures taken.
Africa isn’t new to disease epidemics with Ebola, HIV AIDS and Zika all seemingly to have originated from the continent and the continent having its fair share of foreign disease pandemics such as the Asian flu of 1957 and HINI swine flu pandemic of 2009. Case in point to note; the HINI didn’t have a relatively huge effect on the continent with South Africa, Egypt being the most affected. The continent had about 108 deaths which was a relatively low statistic compared to the global death count of more than 18000 and much so the general way of life in many African states wasn’t affected. Though one must note, various measures of precaution were undertaken by the African governments and institutions during the outbreak.
Fast forward to the covid 19 outbreak, and this time many countries aren’t taking any chances. For instance, Rwanda which has a total of 17 cases imposed a total lockdown almost similar to that of china. Uganda, with 9 cases, shut down inbound flights, mandatory quarantine for inbound passengers as well imposition of quarantine measures for the population. South Africa, Tunisia and Nigeria have all adopted similar measures. Most African states have adopted stringent measures compared to their counterparts in both North and South America with the later still having more cases and deaths than Africa. However, the downside to this measures are going to the enormous, with about 315 million students now at home and with limited access to viable internet across the continent, education is a sector that will surely be hampered. The business community and economy has already been hampered from the very onset of the epidemic with estimates suggesting that the continent has made a loss of 29 billion US dollars which is equivalent to Uganda’s GDP. The economic woes might have been aggravated by the fact that the pandemic started in China, Africa’s largest trading partner since 2009.
Politically, with about 15 African nations holding elections between March 2020 and early 2021, the pandemic seems to have put a halt on Africa’s fragile democratic process. Whichever side of the political spectrum you belong, this is a downside though some will insist it plays well in the dictator’s playbook.
The myths and facts.
The first African to get infected was a Cameroonian student in Wuhan, and his recovery was extraordinary. Rumours spread around suggesting that the African DNA was strong enough to resist the virus. However this can easily be debunked, not only by the various African cases but also the fatalities.
The climatic factor about the virus hasn’t been proven yet though some sources do indicate the virus cannot survive in temperatures greater than 27 degrees, which is the average temperature in sub Saharan Africa. Again the number of cases, disproves this and just like the earlier claim, there has been no confirmation by the world health organisation.
The worst affected country, Italy has the oldest population in Europe with some sources suggesting it’s why the numerous death rates are high. This may be true, but with Africa with the world’s youngest population doesn’t put the continent in the mask of the pandemic, so caution should be taken by all age groups.
The way forward.
Whether Africa’s health care is capable of handling the pandemic, is just a matter of when to prove . But one thing is for sure, the continents health care, has been tried and tested through the various global epidemics that have ravaged the continent over the years. With help from abroad especially china, hope is there the continent can try to contain the virus. Credit and gratitude must be given to the Chinese who have offered expertise to the African governments and African Centre for Disease control. Through the jack ma foundation, there has been a donation of a stock pile of materials, such as testing kits, masks, sanitizers etc to each of the 54 countries. This seems to be a gratitude returned, with the African union amongst the few global institutions to offer support to china during the early days of the pandemic. Most of sub Saharan countries dismissed the idea of evacuation of nationals from china, a move which can be seen as a sign of faith in the Chinese authority.
Last but least, Africans all over the continent shouldn’t take the pandemic lightly and precautions must be taken by the population to contain the spread of virus. Together Africa, will defeat the virus.
