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, July 29th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total cases: Over 6.5 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (6,587,734). This accounts for 3.4% of total cases reported globally.
- Total recoveries: Over 5.7 million people have recovered, (5,777,353). This accounts for 88% of the total cases reported in Africa.
- Total deaths: Over 167,000 deaths have been reported (167,183). This results in a cumulative case fatality rate (CFR) of 2.5%, and accounts for 4% of deaths reported globally.
- The following five countries account for 63% of all cases reported in Africa.
- South Africa: 37% of total cases (2,408,525)
- Morocco: 9% of total cases (597,876)
- Tunisia: 9% of total cases (578,962)
- Egypt: 4% of total cases (284,128)
- Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (279,153)
- Case Fatality Rate (CFR): 25 countries (45% of Member States), are reporting a CFR similar to or higher than the global average of 2.1%
- 4 countries (Egypt, Sahrawi Republic, Somalia and Sudan) are reporting a CFR higher than 5%.
- 56% of Member States (31 countries) experienced the 3rd COVID-19 wave. 23 MS are experiencing a more severe 3rd wave.
- Since the last briefing, TWO additional Member States are experiencing the 3rd wave (Ghana and Botswana).
- Two countries (Algeria and Tunisia) are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | VARIANTS OF CONCERN (VOC)
- 38 countries are now reporting the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant. Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State has reported this variant.
- 32 countries are now reporting the Beta (B.1.351) variant. Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State has reported this variant.
- 21 countries are now reporting the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant. Since the last briefing, NO additional 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 29 (19 – 25 July 2021), compared to the previous epidemiological week 28 (12 – 18 July 2021):
- New cases: A total of 239,483 new cases were reported in Africa. This is a 15% decrease from the previous week.
- The highest proportion of new cases is from the Southern region (57%). The other regions are as follows:
- Northern region (30%)
- Eastern region (7%)
- Western region (5%)
- Central region (1%)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
- South Africa (82,728)
- Tunisia (26,249)
- Morocco (21,640)
- Zimbabwe (14,275)
- Libya (12,041)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
- Seychelles (733)
- Botswana (608)
- Tunisia (318)
- Libya (249)
- Namibia (237)
- New deaths: A total of 6,692 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 6,168 from the previous week. This represents a 9% increase in new deaths from the previous week.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | FOUR-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
- The following are trends analysis over the past 4 epidemiological weeks, (28 June – 25 July 2021):
- New cases: There has been an overall 4% average increase in new cases reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a regional breakdown:
- 38% increase in the Western region
- 24% increase in the Northern region
- 3% decrease in the Central region
- 1% decrease in the Southern region
- 0.1% decrease in the Eastern region
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Nigeria: 57% average increase
- Kenya: 9% average increase
- Ethiopia: 7% average increase
- Egypt: 43% average decrease
- South Africa: 4% average decrease
- DR Congo: 3% average decrease
- New deaths: There has been an overall 17% average increase in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Nigeria: 29% average increase
- South Africa: 27% average increase
- Egypt: 32% average decrease
- Ethiopia: 18% average decrease
- DR Congo: 14% average decrease
- Kenya: No change
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- To date, over 58 million COVID-19 tests (58,633,796) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
- Over 1.3 million new tests, (1,315,530), were reported for epidemiological week 29 (19 – 25 July 2021).
- This is a 19% decrease from the previous week (1,621,177 tests reported).
- The overall positivity rate is 11.2% and the test-per-case ratio is 8.9.
- 31% of Member States (17 countries) are reporting test positivity rates higher than 12%.
CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR MEMBER STATES
- Last week, the Africa CDC trained 404 (296 in English and 108 in French) health professionals on “the role of IPC professionals in a rapid response team”.
- Africa CDC coordinated and responded to questions on the IPC Community of Practice Telegram platform where more than 1300 members are healthcare workers from AU Member States.
- Africa CDC has finalized the report of the IPC needs assessment for Southern Africa countries.
- Africa CDC will conduct the 2nd session on Building Back Better: Post pandemic resilience and addressing vaccine hesitancy among health workers in English, Wednesday 28th July 2021 13:00 pm GMT+3 (Nairobi Time). https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a5M15aUhRGufVVoLy37A9w
- Africa CDC will conduct the 2nd session on Building Back Better: Post pandemic resilience and addressing vaccine hesitancy among health workers in French, Thursday 29th July 2021 14:00 pm GMT+3 (Nairobi Time). https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MNYevcLSR8yRetgIvkIeFQ
- Africa CDC will organize a Joint training with WHO AFRO COVID-19 infection prevention and control; addressing resurgence in Uganda and Rwanda, Zambia and Mozambique, a joint virtual training with WHO/UNICEF/US CDC/Action against hunger 28-30thJuly.
- Africa CDC Regional IPC needs assessment meeting with Eastern Africa IPC focal points to identify the urgent needs of countries using a multimodal approach on Monday 26 July 2021 at 2pm EAT.
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
- With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of July 27th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total vaccine doses supplied: 89.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 53 Member States.
- Total vaccine doses administered: 65 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 72.75% of the total supply available in Africa.
- Coverage: 1.46% 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 |
| Morocco | 22.4 million | 82.73% | 26.89% |
| South Africa | 6.9 million | 78.35% | 0.57% |
| Egypt | 5.1 million | 70.3% | 1.46% |
| Nigeria | 3.9 million | 99.97% | 0.68% |
| Tunisia | 2.7 million | 100% | 8.17% |
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.
- Tanzania commenced vaccination campaign on 28th July 2021 with J&J doses.
- The 21 million doses of vaccine shipment of the US donation has started and a total of 49 African countries will receive doses of Johnson & Johnson, Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. (1 million from the 21 Million will be via bilateral mechanism while 20 million will be via COVAX)
- Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Senegal, Gambia, Zambia, Niger, Cameroon, Malawi : 151,200 doses each
- Benin, Mozambique, CAR: 302,400 doses each
- Ethiopia: 453,600 doses
- Tanzania: 1,058,400 doses
- Total delivered = 3,628,800 doses of J&J.
- Next batch will include :
- Uganda, Tunisia
- Nigeria: 4M doses of Moderna
- South Africa: 5.66M doses of Pfizer
- On 27th July 2021, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the European Union Delegation to the African Union have issued a Joint Statement on the EU Digital COVID Certificate and AU-EU Partnership on COVID-19 vaccines distribution and production. Read the statement on: https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/african-union-au/102474/joint-statement-africa-centres-disease-control-and-prevention-africa-cdc-and-european-union_en
- On August 05th 2021, Africa CDC will organize the PUBLIC HEALTH GRAND ROUNDS themed: “A New Public Health Order in the 21st Century”. It will address what we’ve learned so far with the Pandemic.
