The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that Africa’s mild Covid-19 cases could be as a result of the continent having far more asymptomatic cases than the rest of the world. This was made known by the World Health Organisation’s Regional Office for Africa citing its preliminary analysis that over 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in African countries are asymptomatic.
The global health body disclosed this through its Regional Director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti who made series of tweets using the agency’s official tweeter handle. She equally noted that studies are now underway to test if communities have antibodies for COVID-19.
It tweeted “Interpreting the #COVID19 situation in the Region is complex, & requires a combination of metrics & tools, which I’m sure our panelists will elaborate on in our discussions today.“ There are now more than 1.4 million reported #COVID19 cases on the African continent & 34,000 people have sadly lost their lives.
“Even before the first cases were reported in #Africa in February, at @WHO we were working with governments & partners to ramp-up preparedness & response capacities for #COVID19 & other infectious diseases.
“From March, Governments quickly implemented restrictions on movement & gathering & this created a window of opportunity to keep case numbers low & strengthen public health capacities.” #COVID19.
“Studies are now underway to test if communities have antibodies for #COVID19, meaning people were infected, but not detected. Some early results… suggest a higher number of infections than those reported.”
“Our preliminary analysis suggests that over 80% of cases in African countries are asymptomatic… & this is reinforced by the fact that in most communities, health facilities have not been overwhelmed by severe #COVID19 cases. #Africa.”
Moeti noted that although cases are being missed, this does not affect the deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the Region.
“We are not seeing evidence of excess mortality due to COVID-19 or missing deaths.
“Overall, I really commend the response in African countries. We are making progress thanks to the concerted efforts of governments, communities & partners.
“Going forward, countries should continue to strengthen data & information, in implementing the key public health tools of surveillance, testing, isolation & contact tracing,” she said.