Coronavirus Accelerating In Africa As Cases Top 300,000

THE SPREAD of the coronavirus is accelerating across Africa with extreme rapidity. Every one of the continent’s 54 countries, with a total of 1.2 billion people, has reported cases of the disease.

While the virus was initially slow to take hold, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned, “Even though these cases in Africa account for less than 3 percent” of the global total it is clear “that the pandemic is accelerating.”

The WHO has warned that up to 10 million will be infected over the coming three to six months and that 300,000 people will die on the African continent. That is assuming mitigation measures are put in place by the authorities. Without measures to mitigate the disease, millions could die.

The first case was reported February 14 in Egypt, at least 45 days after China first alerted the WHO about a novel coronavirus. At this point, of the 95,333