As the African continent enters its fourth wave of Covid-19, new cases have surged by 83% due to the Omicron variant, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Speaking during a virtual press conference on Tuesday, WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said this is the fastest surge recorded since May last year.
“With the number of new Covid-19 cases hitting record highs as rates double every five days, we cannot afford to drop our guard. We are entering the year-end holiday season of traditional gatherings and travel, with vaccine coverage still disappointingly low,” she said.
During a separate briefing, WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus said that a total of 77 countries have reported Omicron cases, however, it is likely the variant will still be detected in other countries.
“Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant. We are concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” he said.
Moeti said that while the speed of the spread is fast on the African continent, the death rate has remained lower than the previous waves.
In the first three weeks of the continent’s fourth wave there were over 3000 deaths reported, which is around half as many cases that were reported in the same time frame during the third wave which was fuelled by the Delta variant.
Moeti said despite the increase in cases, there has been a drop in deaths this week by 19% compared to the previous week.
Since the start of the pandemic, Africa has recorded over 8.9 million Covid-19 cases. More than 196 000 new cases were recorded last week, up from around 107 000 in the previous week.
“We are cautiously optimistic that deaths and severe illness will remain low in the current wave, but slow vaccine rollout in Africa means both will be much higher than they should be,” said Moeti.
Hospitalisations have increased by 67% in the past week, however, the bed occupancy rate for intensive care units remains low at 7.5%.
The WHO warned that though deaths also remain low, the data should be interpreted with caution as the pattern may change in the coming weeks.
Globally, there have been more than 2 700 Omicron cases reported in 59 countries, including 11 African countries that account for about 33% of the total cases.
However, Africa’s share is steadily dropping, and South Africa no longer leads the world in Omicron cases.
📺LIVE: Tune in for this @WHOAFRO press briefing on the #COVID19 pandemic, the #Omicron variant and vaccine rollout in #Africa. Dr @MoetiTshidi is joined by Professor Flavia Senkubuge. https://t.co/Vxyu0BojLs
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) December 14, 2021