Welcome Remarks
- Good morning from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, and thank you to members of the press for joining today’s briefing.
- At this time, I will share updates on the COVID-19 situation on the continent, including our response efforts and updates on the vaccine situation.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | OVERVIEW
● As of today, August 12th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
● Total cases: Over 7.1 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (7,136,140). This accounts for 3.5% of total cases reported globally.
● Total recoveries: Over 6.2 million people have recovered, (6,217,218). This accounts for 87% of the total cases reported in Africa.
● Total deaths: Over 179,000 deaths have been reported (179,986). This results in a cumulative case fatality rate (CFR) of 2.5%, and accounts for 4.2% of deaths reported globally.
● The following five countries account for 63% of all cases reported in Africa.
○ South Africa: 36% of total cases (2,554,240)
○ Morocco: 10% of total cases (720,256)
○ Tunisia: 9% of total cases (616,764)
○ Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (286,286)
○ Egypt: 4% of total cases (284,966)
● Case Fatality Rate (CFR): this week, 22 countries (40% of Member States), are reporting a CFR higher than the global average of 2.1%
● 3 countries (Egypt, Somalia and Sudan) are reporting a CFR higher than 5%. ● 60% of Member States (33 countries) experienced the 3rd COVID-19 wave. 26* (79%) MS are experiencing a more severe 3rd wave.
● Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Guinea) is experiencing a 3rd wave.
● Four countries (Algeria, Kenya, Somalia and Tunisia) are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave. 2 (50%) MS are experiencing a more severe 4th wave.
● Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Somalia) is experiencing a 4th wave.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | VARIANTS OF CONCERN (VOC)
● 42 countries are now reporting the Alpha (B.1.1.7) VOC.
Since the last briefing, THREE additional Member States (Liberia, Seychelles and Sudan) have reported this variant.
● 37 countries are now reporting the Beta (B.1.351) VOC.
Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Sudan) has reported this variant.
● 30 countries are now reporting the Delta (B.1.617.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, FOUR additional Member States (Eswatini, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and Seychelles) have reported this variant.
● 1 Member State is reporting the Gamma (GR/501Y.V3/P.1+P.1.1+P.1.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO Member State has reported this variant.
More details are provided in our dashboard: (https://africacdc.org/institutes/africa-pathogen-genomics-initiative/)
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | ONE-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
● The following are trends for epidemiological week 31 (2 – 8 August 2021), compared to the previous epidemiological week 30 (26 July – 1 August 2021):
● New cases: A total of 270,250 new cases were reported in Africa. This is a 1% decrease from the previous week.
● The highest proportion of new cases is from the Southern region (46%). The other regions are as follows:
● Northern region (40%)
● Eastern region (7%)
● Western region (6%)
● Central region (1%)
● The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
● South Africa (77,282)
● Morocco (66,565)
● Tunisia (17,051)
● Botswana (15,551)
● Libya (13,519)
● The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
● Botswana (926)
● Eswatini (576)
● Seychelles (561)
● Libya (280)
● Morocco (258)
● New deaths: A total of 6,385 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 6,466 from the previous week. This represents a 1% decrease in new deaths from the previous week.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | FOUR-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
● The following are trends over the past 4 epidemiological weeks, (12 July – 8 August 2021):
● New cases: There has been an overall 1% average decrease in new cases reported in Africa each week.
● The following is a regional breakdown:
○ 31% increase in the Western region
○ 11% increase in the Northern region
○ 8% increase in the Eastern region
○ 10% decrease in the Southern region
○ 2% decrease in the Central region
● The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
○ Ethiopia : 62% average increase
○ Nigeria: 56% average increase
○ Kenya: 30% average increase
○ DR Congo: 6% average increase
○ Egypt: 15% average decrease
○ South Africa: 12% average decrease
● New deaths: There has been an overall 4% average increase in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
● The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
○ Nigeria : 108% average increase
○ Kenya: 56% average increase
○ Ethiopia: 37% average increase
○ DR Congo: 34% average increase
○ South Africa: 2% average increase
○ Egypt: 16% average decrease
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
● To date, over 62 million COVID-19 tests (62,050,176) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
● Over 1.3 million new tests, (1,397,690), were reported for epidemiological week 31 (2 – 8 August 2021).
● This is a 17% decrease from the previous week when 1,674,376 tests were reported.
● The cumulative positivity rate is 11.5% and the test-per-case ratio is 8.7 compared to a positivity rate of 11.4% and test-per-case ratio is 8.8 in the previous week.
● 31% of Member States (17 countries) are reporting test positivity rates higher than 12%.
- Botswana
- DR Congo
- Eswatini
- Gambia
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Libya
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Sahrawi Republic
- Senegal
- South Africa
- Tunisia
- Zimbabwe
CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR MEMBER STATES
● Last week the 2nd session of the Africa CDC IPC webinar was conducted on “Building Back Better: Post pandemic resilience and addressing vaccine hesitancy among health workers”. A total of 677 participants were trained.
● The 3rd session focused on “Strengthening IPC Programmes to prevent disease outbreaks” trained a total of 731 participants
● •Conducted a joint training with WHO AFRO and other partners on COVID-19 infection prevention and control; addressing resurgence in Uganda and Rwanda, Zambia and Mozambique, 28-30thJuly over 700 participants were trained
● Yesterday, the Africa CDC conducted a session on “IPC-WASH in Healthcare Facilities”.
ANNOUNCEMENT
● Africa CDC in partnership with Global Health Strategies (GHS) is pleased to announce the hosting of the 1st International Conference on Public Health in Africa, (CPHIA 2021).
This first International Public Health Conference comes at a critical time when the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep inequities in the global health architecture and continues to significantly strain health systems across the world.
As Africa CDC calls for a New Public Health Order for Africa, we are ready to engage with the top leadership of the continent and work with other partners to drive the discussions on scientific innovations and key public health interventions for the citizens of the continent.
This 3-day virtual event will take place from 14-16 December 2021, we encourage you all, members of the media and other key stakeholders to mark your calendar and check our digital platforms for more information.www.cphia2021.com
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
● With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of August 9th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
● Total vaccine doses supplied: 114 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 53 Member States.
● Total vaccine doses administered: 77.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 67.93% of the total supply available in Africa.
● Coverage: 1.75% of the population has been fully vaccinated on the continent.
● The following five countries have administered the most vaccine doses in Africa.
More details are provided on our dashboard (https://africacdc.org/covid-19-vaccination/)
● Eritrea, and Burundi are the 2 remaining AU Member States yet to start COVID-19 vaccine roll out.
● USG Donations
○ J&J: 23 countries have received their USG dose donations which totals 9,244,000 doses.
Djibouti (151K), Ethiopia (1.6M), Burkina Faso (302K), Gambia (302K), Senegal (302K), Niger (302K), Zambia (302K), Lesotho (302K), Cameroon (302K), CAR (302K), Mozambique (302K), Tanzania (1M), Morocco (302K), Benin (302K), Eswatini (302K), Liberia (302K), Madagascar (302K), Guinea-Bissau (302K), Somalia (302K), Mali (151K), Malawi (302K), Sudan (604K) and Somalia (604K).
○ Pfizer: South Africa has received their donations (9.2M). Next is Rwanda (300K), Botswana (81K)
● AVAT Distribution : J&J
10 African countries have received their first deliveries (Egypt (261K), Angola (165K), Ghana (177.6K), Tunisia (108K), Cameroon (158K), Mauritius (108K), Togo (117.6K), Lesotho (108K), Botswana (108K) and Nigeria (177K).
Total : 1,488,200 vaccine doses.
