Experts: Africa Faces ‘Existential Threat’ from Coronavirus

Experts: Africa Faces ‘Existential Threat’ from Coronavirus

Health officials have predicted that some African countries will have many thousands of coronavirus cases by the end of April.

African health care systems are less prepared to treat serious infectious diseases than ones in Europe, Asia or any other part of the world. African hospitals also lack important health care equipment.

As of Tuesday, there were more than 6,000 coronavirus cases in African. John Nkengasong told reporters that number is "very, very close" to where Europe was after a 40-day period. Nkengasong is the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Africa CDC.

The virus "is an existential threat to our continent," he said. Almost all of Africa's 54 countries have reported cases of the coronavirus after Malawi reported its first case last week. Local transmission has been reported in many places.

Nkengasong said officials are "aggressively" seeking medical equipment such as ventilators: devices that help sick patients breathe. Officials also are exploring local manufacturing and repurposing.

"We've seen a lot of goodwill¹ expressed to supporting Africa" from partners in the international community, Nkengasong said. But he and others are waiting for those feelings to turn into action.

Matshidiso Moeti is the director for Africa at The World Health Organization, or WHO. She told reporters the WHO does not know how many ventilators are available across the region to help people with breathing problems from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

"We are trying to find out this information from country-based colleagues," Moeti said. "What we can say without a doubt is there is an enormous gap."

Some countries have only a few ventilators. For example, the Central African Republic has just three.

WHO official Zabulon Yoti said only a small percentage of people who are infected will need ventilators while about 15 percent may need intensive care.

African health officials are calling for the world to work together at a time when even the richest countries are struggling with the medical crisis.

"Countries like Cameroon just reached out yesterday, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, asking, ‘Look, we need tents because we're running out of hospital beds already,'" Nkengasong said.

Even if equipment is found, getting it to countries is a growing problem. Africa's travel restrictions² are spreading although some countries have given permission to flights carrying supplies or humanitarian³ aid.

Estimating the number of coronavirus cases in Africa is difficult, even in South Africa, the most developed country in the region. Officials there have had problems with testing.

Other countries suffer from a shortage of testing supplies. But, 43 countries in the WHO Africa sub-Saharan region are now able to perform tests. That is up from two in early February.

As more African countries establish lockdowns, the WHO and Africa CDC have expressed concern for the millions of poor people who need to go out daily to earn their living. This is a huge problem, Moeti said, noting that hundreds of thousands of children also are now out of school.

It is too soon to tell how the lockdown in places like South Africa has affected⁴ the number of cases, she added.

Health experts in Africa are working to understand whether some conditions, such as Africa's young population, might help in fighting off the virus. It is estimated that about 70 percent of Africans are under age 30. Experts are also studying how the widespread problems of poor nutrition, HIV and other diseases might affect people's ability to fight off infection.

"Our greatest fear" is that programs dealing⁵ with those ongoing⁶ issues will be harmed by the current crisis, Nkengasong said.

Words in This Story

existential –adj. related to existence

continent –n. a very large landmass

transmission –n. passing from one person to another

colleague –n. a fellow worker

region –n. an area separate from others, often very large

enormous –adj. very large

gap –n. a space between two things

tent –n. a shelter made of cloth

lockdown – n. forcing prisoners into the cells or measures to keep people in their homes

1 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。