WHO. warns of 'apathy' in efforts to contain Covid in Africa

As the number of coronavirus cases rises and vaccination efforts slow in some African countries, regional officials from the World Health Organization on Thursday issued a warning against the lax enforcement of public health measures to curb the pandemic on the continent.

Precautions such as wearing a mask, washing hands and social distancing have dramatically declined in many countries as people adjust to the pandemic and government officials push for a return to normal life, said Dr Pamela Mitula, epidemiologist and vaccine specialist at the WHO regional office for Africa, during a press conference. And many countries have relaxed Covid-19 policies in recent months, including fully reopening schools and universities, scrapping mask mandates, allowing large campaign rallies and suspending testing requirements for arriving travelers. from abroad.

"On this apathy, what we would say is that countries should really be encouraged and reminded that the pandemic is far from over over," said Dr Mitula. "They need to be vigilant."

The warning came two days after the WHO, a United Nations agency, said Covid-19 was still a global public health emergency that was going nowhere.

Africa has so far reported more than 12 million cases of the virus and 255,442 deaths from to Covid-19, according to the WHO, and both figures almost certainly underestimate the true toll of the pandemic.

The highly transmissible Omicron subvariants of the virus are driving a wave of infections across the continent, particularly in North Africa, where new cases rose 17% last week, according to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the W.H.O. Regional Director Africa.

Dr. Moeti said she expected the upward trend in North Africa - so far concentrated in Morocco and Tunisia - to start to reverse in the coming weeks, as has happened recently in recent weeks. Southern African countries like Namibia and Botswana, due to improved detection and response mechanisms. /p>

But the potential for further virus surges, she said, should push countries to vaccinate more of their populations, especially elderly residents, medical workers and people with underlying health conditions. As of July 10, only 21.1% of Africa's 1.2 billion people were fully immunized, according to the WHO.

“This phase of the pandemic may well be characterized by a relatively low incidence and a much lower risk of hospitalization and death,” Dr. Moeti said, “but the Omicron variant remains highly transmissible.”