Surge in cases in Africa
With the total number of recorded cases during the pandemic standing at 8.9 million, Africa recorded more than 196,000 new cases last week, up from around 107,000 in the previous week.
WHO has said that the number of new cases is currently doubling every five days, the fastest rate this year. Although “the speed of the spread is fast, deaths remain low and even dropped by 19 per cent last week compared with the previous week”, the UN health agency reported.
Hospitalizations
Currently in its fourth wave, Africa counted a little over 3,000 deaths reported during the first three weeks. According to WHO, around half as many cases were reported in the same time frame during the third wave, which was fueled by the Delta variant.
“This upsurge in new cases coupled with low hospitalizations is particularly marked in South Africa which has experienced a 66 per cent rise in new cases during the past seven days compared with the previous period”, the assessment revealed.
Hospitalizations have increased by 67 per cent in the past week, but the bed occupancy rate for intensive care units remains low at 7.5 per cent. Though deaths also remain low, this data should be interpreted with caution as the pattern may change in the coming weeks, WHO alerted.
