10 Apr WHO warns that COVID-19 Infections in Africa could be 97 times higher than reported
A recent study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that the true number of COVID-19 infections in Africa could be as much as 97 times more than the official statistics.
Since Africa saw its first case in Egypt in mid-February, 2020, there have been some 11,360,305 cases and over 250,000 deaths – relatively few compared with other regions according to statistics from the African Centre for Disease Control COVID-19 dashboard.
A report released by WHO suggested that some 800 million people could have already been infected in Africa by last September. This is at least two thirds of the people living on the continent with over 1.3 billion population.
A report by Aljazeera said the global body suggested that the official statistics were “likely only scratching the surface of the real extent of coronavirus infections in Africa.”
“A new meta-analysis of standardised sero-prevalence study revealed that the true number of infections could be as much as 97 times higher than the number of confirmed reported cases,” said WHO Africa boss, Matshidiso Moeti.
“This suggests that more than two-thirds of all Africans have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus,” she added.
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