More than two-thirds of Africans have been infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19 after the pandemic broke out, a number that is 97 times higher than the confirmed, recorded cases, according to a study by the World Health Organization was released today.
The study concluded that by September 2021, 800 million Africans had been exposed to the new coronavirus, although the number of officially recorded cases at that time was only 8.2 million.
The WHO noted that this countdown was ubiquitous, but to a lesser extent than in Africa. On average, worldwide, infections are 16 times more common than officially confirmed.
WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Machidiso Moeti said the continent’s high exposure to the virus and the fact that the number of infections is now declining does not mean that Africa could claim to have beaten Covid-19. “We can not ignore the risk of more fatal variants due to the immunity acquired from previous infections,” she said in a statement, calling for an increase in diagnostic tests.
This study is a synthesis of 151 previous studies of HIV prevalence in Africa, ie the percentage of people who have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their blood serum. Virus exposure was found to have jumped from 3% in June 2020 to 65% in September 2021. Vertical increases were observed following the emergence of the Beta and Delta variants.
Other studies estimate that 45% of the world’s population was infected by September 2021 but the WHO notes that comparisons are difficult because these studies covered different time periods.
As diagnostic tests in Africa were usually performed on travelers and people arriving at hospitals already having symptoms, HIV prevalence studies provide evidence of asymptomatic cases that would otherwise go unnoticed. According to the WHO, Africa has a higher rate of asymptomatic cases compared to other parts of the world. 67% of those infected showed no symptoms. This is partly due to the fact that the proportion of people with risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension is lower and partly because Africa’s young population is larger than on other continents.
So far, 209 million people, or 16% of the population, have been fully vaccinated against the new coronavirus in Africa.
Source: Capital
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