Weekly COVID-19 Cases in Africa Drops by More than 20%, Says WHO

•  Africa received 5.5m vaccine doses in September
• S/Africa hosts regional genomic surveillance centre

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The weekly COVID-19 cases in Africa have fallen by more than 20 per cent, the sharpest seven-day decline in two months, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

It disclosed that a total of 5.5 million doses were received through COVAX in the first week of September by countries in Africa.

WHO further said it is collaborating with Bioinformatics Institute in an effort to set up a Regional Centre of Excellence for Genomic Surveillance and Bioinformatics in Cape Town, South Africa.

Speaking during a virtual press conference on COVID-19 pandemic, facilitated by APO group Monday, the Regional Director of WHO for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said the continent has recorded more than 165,000 cases in the week ending on September 5 with 23 per cent lower than the week before.

She cautioned that COVID-19 variants may likely prolong Africa’s pandemic wave.

The organisation also said the rate of deceleration is slower than the previous waves owing to the impact of more transmissible variants.

She added that the third wave pandemic appears to be tapering off.

In a statement issued by the Communications Manager at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Saya Oka, the regional director said this week’s figure is higher than the weekly cases recorded at the peak of the first wave.

She explained that the more contagious Delta variant, that partly fuelled the third wave, has been dominant in several countries that experienced the COVID-19 surge.

He said: “In southern Africa, for instance, where more than 4,000 COVID-19 genome sequencing data was produced in August, the Delta variant was detected in over 70 per cent of samples from Botswana, Malawi and South Africa, and in over 90 per cent from Zimbabwe.

“While COVID-19 cases have declined appreciably, the downward trend is frustratingly slow due to the lingering effects of the more infectious Delta variant.

“We are spearheading critical work and supporting countries in scaling up pathogen surveillance through genome sequencing to detect and respond effectively to COVID-19 variants.”

Moeti disclosed that WHO is working with Bioinformatics Institute in an effort to set up a Regional Centre of Excellence for Genomic Surveillance and Bioinformatics in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to her, the centre will support 14 countries before being expanded to serve more countries.

Moeti recalled that last year, WHO and partners established a COVID-19 sequencing laboratory network in Africa which has to date produced nearly 40,000 sequencing data.

“The continent lags far behind the rest of the world when it comes to sequencing, with only 1 per cent of over 3 million COVID-19 sequences conducted worldwide occurring in Africa.

“The third wave has shown us how variants can hijack the efforts to tame the pandemic. Countries must step up surveillance because without genomic information, variants can spread undetected. You can’t fix what you don’t measure.

“WHO has also recently provided financial support to countries including Eswatini, Sao Tome and Principe and Senegal to reinforce genomic surveillance. To date, the dominant Delta variant has been detected in 31 African countries, while the Alpha and Beta variants have respectively been identified in 44 and 39 countries,” she said.

The C.1.2 variant initially identified in South Africa has so far been detected in 130 cases in 10 countries globally, including five in Africa.

Although the variant has exhibited concerning mutations, there is no evidence that it is more transmissible or may affect vaccine efficacy, but more research is needed.

As Africa’s third COVID-19 pandemic wave eases off, vaccine shipments to the continent continue to grow, with around 5.5 million doses received through COVAX in the first week of September. However, only around 3 per cent of the continent’s population is fully vaccinated.

“To ultimately tip the scales against this pandemic, our best efforts to reduce transmission through public health measures must be met by a significant step-up in vaccine supplies and vaccinations,” she said.

Moeti was joined at the virtual press conference by Prof. Alan Christoffels, Director of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute, and Dr Christian Happi, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics and Director at the African Centre of excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria.