Africa CDC Weekly Event Based Surveillance Report, April 2023

Update to event:
As of 6 p.m. East African Time (EAT) 5 April 2023, a total of 12,289,728 COVID-19 cases and 256,985 deaths (case fatality ratio[CFR]: 2.1%) were reported by the 55 African Union (AU) Member States (MS). This represents 2% of all cases and 4% of all deaths reported globally. Forty-two (76%) AU MS are reporting CFR higher than the global CFR (1%). Fifty-three MS have reported COVID-19 cases infected with the Alpha (50 MS), Beta (45), Delta (52), Gamma (3) and Omicron (51) variants of concern (VOC). Additionally, 32 MS have reported the presence of the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, two MS reported the Omicronsublineage (XBB.1.5) and 11 Member States have reported the Omicron sublineage (BF.7 or BA.5.2.1.7).
Fifty-four (98%) MS are currently providing COVID-19 vaccination to the general population. Cumulatively, 1.1 billion doses have been administered on the continent. Of these doses administered, 542.4 million people have been partially vaccinated, and 422.7 million have been fully vaccinated. Eritrea is the only AU MS yet to start the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.
For Epi week 13 (27 March – 2 April 2023), 2,466 new COVID-19 cases were reported, which is a 43% decrease in the number of new cases reported compared to the previous week (12). The Southern region accounted for 63% of the new COVID-19 cases reported this week, followed by the Eastern (13%), Northern (13%), Western (6%) and Central (5%) regions.
Last week, 13 new COVID-19 deaths were reported in Africa, which is a 38% decrease in new deaths reported compared to the previous week (21 deaths). The Southern accounted for 77% of the new COVID-19 deaths reported this week, followed by Northern (23%). This week, no deaths were reported in the Central, Eastern and Western regions.
More than 73 thousand tests were conducted during the past week, reflecting a 111% increase in the number of tests compared to the previous week. The weekly % test positivity decreased by 3% compared with the previous week (12%). Since February 2020, over 126.1 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Africa.