Africa sees 20% drop in new COVID-19 cases

Africa has seen a 20 percent average decrease in the number of new COVID-19 cases over the past four weeks, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.

"We are pleased to see that there is a consistent decrease in new COVID-19 cases in the continent over the past four weeks with a 25 percent decrease in southern Africa, 22 percent drop in eastern Africa, 20 percent in western African and 15 percent in northern Africa," Director of the Africa CDC John Nkengasong said on Thursday in a briefing.

Africa has so far recorded more than 8.4 million COVID-19 cases, accounting for 3.5 percent of all cases reported globally, the director said during the weekly briefing.

According to the Africa CDC, 82 percent of the 54 countries in the continent have been going through a third wave while seven countries -- namely Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia and Tunisia -- are experiencing a fourth wave of the pandemic.

So far, the continent reported more than 218,000 deaths with a fatality rate of 2.5 percent, representing 4.4 percent of the overall global deaths caused by the pandemic.

In terms of vaccination, Nkengasong said 275 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by the continent and 188.5 million doses have been administered.

A total of 5.58 percent of Africa's population have been fully vaccinated, said Nkengasong, who warned that the low rates of vaccination could lead to more illness and possible deaths.

"It will take much longer for Africa to control COVID-19 than previously expected because of the slow pace of vaccination across the continent. We are getting to the point where elimination or effective control of the pandemic is becoming more challenging," he added.

According to WHO projections on Thursday, five countries which represent less than one-tenth of the continent's 54 nations are projected to fully vaccinate 40 percent of their people against COVID-19 until the end of this year.