Coronavirus Is Spreading In At Least 30 African Countries
At least 30 African countries have reported cases of the coronavirus as the disease that has shaken developed economies, including the U.S. and China, continues to spread across the world’s poorest continent.
The deadly virus was first reported in Egypt and has since been reported in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Rwanda, Liberia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of China, Guinea, Sudan, Ethiopia and even Somalia, the Horn of Africa country whose health system has been ravaged by three decades of conflict.
The disease has infected some 633 individuals across 33 African countries and has killed 16 people. Most infections are foreign imported and still in single digits in many African countries.
In the last few days, The Gambia, Mauritius, and Zambia discovered their first confirmed cases.
“The internal transmission risk is now setting in,” South Africa’s health minister, Zweli Mkhize, told reporters.
Africa had largely been spared the rapid spread of COVID-19, which has so far infected more than 230,000 people and accounted for more than 9,300 deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.
Concerns are now growing over the ability of the continent to handle the virus, which has even overwhelmed countries with advanced health systems like Italy.
“When this outbreak starts affecting our poor communities where families do not have enough rooms or spaces to quarantine those affected, we will experience a crisis,” Mkhize said.
Many African countries have imposed travel restrictions and other internal measures like closing schools and banning public events to try and stem the spread of the disease which originated in Wuhan, China in December.
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Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to MERS coronavirus, which is the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus and SARS, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus.