Africa heads towards one-million Covid-19 cases, but figures could be much higher

Women wear face masks at Dutse Alhaji market, as authorities race to contain the coronavirus disease in Abuja, Nigeria May 2, 2020. Picture: REUTERS/AFOLABI SOTUNDE

“We haven't seen the peak yet,” she warned. “All countries in Africa are at risk because our health systems are relatively weak.”The continent's most industrialised economy has notched up more than 450,000 infections — the highest number in Africa and the fifth biggest in the world. It has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, although there is concern that fatalities are being under-reported.

“For every one case, there are a handful of cases that we are missing because we are not able to test everybody,” Sani Aliyu, the head of Nigeria's virus task force, admitted. Despite the swelling numbers, Nigeria is having a hard time convincing sceptics that the threat is for real. Cameroon is past its first peak, which “occurred between the end of June and early July,” according to Prof Yap Boum of Epicenter Africa, the epidemiology branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres .Cameroon did not impose strict lockdown measures as other countries have done. Although the wearing of masks is compulsory in public places, very few people bother to do so.Tiny Djibouti, with a population of about one-million, has the second highest case rate in East Africa, with more than 5,000 infections.

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