The cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crowns in Africa exceeds 5 million, and the situation is not optimistic
Xinhua News Agency, Lusaka, June 12thSummary: The cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crown in Africa exceeds 5 million, and the situation is not optimistic
Xinhua News Agency reporter
According to data released by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 12th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crowns in Africa has exceeded 5 million, reaching 5011502, with a total of 134,239 deaths and a total of 4,504,296 cured cases.
Recently, the epidemic situation in some countries in Africa has rebounded severely, and the vaccination in some areas has been slow. The epidemic situation is not optimistic.
Serious rebound in some countries
South Africa is the country with the worst new crown epidemic in Africa, and the number of confirmed cases accounts for more than one-third of the total number of confirmed cases in Africa. South Africa’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases issued a statement on the evening of the 10th, stating that South Africa’s moving average number of new cases on the 7th reached 5959, and it entered the third wave of “technical” outbreaks on the same day.
Since the end of May, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Zambia has risen rapidly, and the number of new cases in a single day has increased from less than 100 cases to more than 1,000. The number of newly confirmed cases in a single day on the 10th and 11th is higher than 2000; the country The number of severe cases and deaths of the new crown has also increased significantly recently. The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health of Zambia, Kennedy Marama, said on the 9th that the surge in the number of new crown cases in the country was mainly due to the people’s failure to comply with epidemic prevention measures and the frequent elections held recently.
On the 6th, Ugandan President Museveni said in a national television speech on the situation of the new crown epidemic prevention and control and the next prevention and control measures, that the proportion of deaths and critical cases of infected persons in the second wave of the country’s epidemic was higher than that of the first wave. The age group most severely affected by the second wave of the epidemic is 20 to 39 years old, and the number of infected people in the 10 to 19 year old age group has also increased significantly; hospital beds and oxygen supply are severely short, and medical resources are facing Extreme pressure.
Vaccination is slow
According to data released by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of the 10th, 50 AU member states have received about 54.9 million doses of the new crown vaccine, of which 35.9 million doses have been vaccinated. In terms of coverage, only about 0.6% of the population in Africa has completed vaccination. The top five African countries for vaccination are Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa.
The World Health Organization said in May that the shortage of vaccine supply and delays in delivery have left many African countries behind in terms of vaccination coverage.
According to data from the African Union, 99% of the current demand for vaccines in Africa needs to be imported. The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Macidiso Muti, recently called on relevant countries to share vaccines with African countries to help Africa fill the gap.
Museveni said on the 6th that Uganda’s vaccination work is affected by the global vaccine shortage, and a greater gap has appeared due to India’s suspension of external supply of vaccines. He said that the government is making every effort to ensure that more vaccines are available to cover all target groups.
Nigerian Health Minister Osaji Ehanil said at a press conference on the 3rd that the government plans to introduce vaccines from any country that is willing to share vaccines. The Nigerian government’s goal is to have 70% of eligible Nigerians complete the vaccination by the end of 2022.
In some countries, vaccination is slow. South Africa has a population of approximately 58 million, and the government plans to vaccinate 67% of the population by the end of 2021. The government has ordered more than 50 million doses of vaccines, but the country has only received about 1.61 million vaccines since the start of vaccination in February. According to media reports, the slow vaccination in South Africa is not due to lack of vaccines, but due to factors such as the lack of vaccination sites, the opening of vaccination sites only on working days, and online appointments that are not conducive to the operation of the elderly.
The regional economy was hit hard
At the high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on Africa’s peace and security issues held in May, UN Secretary-General Guterres said that the new crown epidemic has plunged about 114 million people in Africa into extreme poverty and caused a slowdown in economic growth on the continent. In addition, divisive speech, hate speech, and misinformation have brought new social contradictions, increasing regional conflicts and instability.
The Chairman of the African Union Commission Faki has said that the global travel ban and national blockade have disrupted the African economy, leading to inflation, unemployment and a decline in living standards in many African countries. In addition, the epidemic has also dealt a huge blow to African small and medium-sized enterprises and public hospitals. The epidemic will continue to have a profound impact on Africa’s economic and social development. (Notewriter: Zhao Yupeng; participating reporters: Zhu Shaobin, Wang Ping, Zhang Gaiping, Jing Jing, Guo Jun, Lu Tianran, Li Sibo, Teng Junwei)
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