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Surge in Covid-19 cases across Africa is becoming a source of worry for many governments.
This latest second wave of the virus doesn’t appear to be going anytime soon, as cases and deaths from the virus begin to take a toll.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has now said that the current wave of the Covid-19 infections could be due to the emergence of new variants.
The said new variants according to the CDC are more transmissible and resulting in high cases.
“Africa is currently experiencing an increase in the number of confirmed Covid19 cases,” the African Union (AU) Commission’s said in its latest publication on Saturday.
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It said at least 40 countries have experienced a second wave of the pandemic in January alone.
The Africa CDC said in its publication that “This new wave of infections is thought to be associated with the emergence of variants that are more transmissible”.
Preliminary findings by the agency also revealed that three new similar but distinct variants reported in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, “are significantly more transmissible than previously circulating variants, with high viral shedding observed among cases.”
The South African variant of the virus has now been reported in 22 countries globally including South Africa, Ghana, Botswana and Zambia.
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But the there is no data on the extent to which these new variants have spread in Africa.
As of 27 Jan. 2021, at least 40 countries have experienced a 2nd wave of the pandemic. This new wave of infections is thought to be associated with the emergence of variants that are more transmissible.
Visit https://t.co/fqUj8XkSvU to know more about the new variants in Africa. pic.twitter.com/mKRRY5krBl— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) January 29, 2021
Covid-19 cases in Africa now stands at over 3,534,360 with related deaths now at over 89,839 at the end of the month of January.
Over 3 million people infected with Covid-19 have however recovered across the continent.
Source: Africafeeds.com
