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, January 20th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total cases: Over 10.4 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (10,406,257). This accounts for 3.3% of total cases reported globally.
- Total recoveries: Over 9.3 million people have recovered (9,317,101). This accounts for 90% of the total cases reported in Africa.
- Total deaths: Over 235,000 deaths have been reported (235,152). This results ina cumulative case fatality rate (CFR) of 2.3%,and accounts for 4.2% of deaths reported globally.
- The following five countries account for 62% of all cases reported in Africa.
- South Africa: 34% of total cases (3,564,578)
- Morocco: 10% of total cases (1,059,586)
- Tunisia: 8% of total cases (804,353)
- Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (459,486)
- Egypt: 4% of total cases (402,611)
- Case Fatality Rate (CFR): this week, 26 countries (47% of Member States), are reporting a CFR higher than the global average of 1.7%.
- 3 countries (Egypt, Somalia and Sudan) are reporting a CFR higher than 5%.
- 96% of Member States (53 countries) experienced the 3rd COVID-19 wave. 37 (70%) MS are experiencing a more severe 3rd wave.
- Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is experiencing a 3rd wave.
- Forty-six (46) African Union Member States are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave. 30 (65%) MS are experiencing a more severe 4th wave.
- Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is experiencing a 4th wave.
- Eight (8) African Union Member States (Algeria, Benin, Congo Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia and Tunisia) are experiencing a 5th COVID-19 wave.
- Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is experiencing a 5th wave.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | VARIANTS OF CONCERN (VOC)
- 48 countries are now reporting the Alpha (B.1.1.7) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member States have reported this variant.
- 44 countries are now reporting the Beta (B.1.351) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member States have reported this variant.
- 47 countries are now reporting the Delta (B.1.617.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is reporting this variant.
- 6 Member States are reporting the Gamma (GR/501Y.V3/P.1+P.1.1+P.1.2) VOC. Since the last briefing, NO additional Member States have reported this variant.
- 40 Member States are now reporting the Omicron GR/484A (B.1.1.529)
Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Mali) has reported this variant.
More details are provided in our dashboard:
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | ONE-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
- The following are trends for epidemiological week 2 (10 – 16 January 2022), compared to the previous epidemiological week 1 (3 – 9 January 2022):
- New cases: A total of 249,943 new cases were reported in Africa. This is a 20% decrease from the previous week.
- The highest proportion of new cases is from the Northern region (44%). The other regions are as follows:
- Southern region (30%)
- Eastern region (15%)
- Western region (8%)
- Central region (3%)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
- Morocco (46,569)
- Tunisia (43,045)
- South Africa (33,176)
- Zambia (13,228)
- Ethiopia (13,198)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
- Seychelles (2663)
- Cabo Verde (940)
- Tunisia (521)
- Sao Tome and Principe (452)
- Botswana (444)
- New deaths: A total of 2,791 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 2,688 from the previous week. This represents a 4% increase 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, (20 December 2021 – 16 January 2022):
- New cases: There has been an overall 0.3% average decrease in new cases reported in Africa over the last 4 weeks.
- The following is a regional breakdown:
- 70% increase in the Northern region
- 53% increase in the Eastern region
- 33% increase in the Western region
- 21%decrease in the Southern region
- 0.1%decrease in the Central region
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Ethiopia: 137% average increase
- Kenya: 16% average increase
- Egypt: 5% average increase
- South Africa: 29% average decrease
- DR Congo: 27% average decrease
- Nigeria: 2% average decrease
- New deaths: There has been an overall 36% average increase in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Nigeria: 216% average increase
- Kenya: 107% average increase
- South Africa: 70% average increase
- Ethiopia: 39% average increase
- DR Congo: 33% average increase
- Egypt: 11% average decrease
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- To date, over 92.8 million COVID-19 tests (92,886,751) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
- Over 1.4 million new tests (1,429,159) were reported for epidemiological week 2 (10 – 16 January 2022).
- This is a 13% decrease from the previous week when 1,636,430 tests were reported. The cumulative positivity rate is 11.2% and the test-per-case ratio is 9.0
- For epidemiological week 2 (10 – 16 January 2022), the positivity rate is 17% and the test-per-case ratio is 5.7, which is a decrease (8%) in the positivity rate and an increase (9%) in the test-per-case ratio compared to the previous week, respectively.
- 44% of Member States (24 countries) are reporting a test positivity rate higher than 12% this week.
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
- With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of 12th January, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total vaccine doses supplied: 570 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 54 Member States.
- Total vaccine doses administered: 353 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 62% of the total supply available in Africa.
- Coverage: 10.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated on the continent.
- The following five countries have administered the most vaccine doses in Africa.
| Country | Doses administered | % of the supply | % of Population fully vaccinated |
| Egypt | 58.3 million | 81.71% | 22.3% |
| Morocco | 53.6 million | 90.49% | 62.3% |
| South Africa | 29 million | 91.47% | 27.3% |
| Mozambique | 18.9 million | 87.9% | 27.2% |
| Nigeria | 18.2 million | 39.21% | 2.5% |
More details are provided on our dashboard (https://africacdc.org/covid-19-vaccination/)
- Eritrea is the remaining AU Member States yet to start COVID-19 vaccine roll out.
- AVAT DELIVERIES
To date 35.8 Million J & J doses have been delivered to 35 African Union Member States including the African Union Commission : Lesotho, Togo, Mauritius, Angola, Ghana, Tunisia, Cameroon, Egypt, Botswana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry (GN), Liberia, Congo Brazzaville (CG), Sudan, Zambia, Senegal, Gambia, Mozambique, Benin, Namibia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burkina Faso, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mauritania, Madagascar, Malawi, Burundi, Gabon, and Guinea-Bissau.
