More than two-thirds of Africans may have contracted the Covid-19 virus in the past two years, 97 times more than reported infections, according to a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) published Thursday April 7 . As of April 6, 11.5 million cases of Covid-19 had been detected and 252 000 deaths linked to this virus recorded on the African continent since the start of the pandemic. The WHO Africa Region, whose study is still undergoing peer review, believes that the official figures were only a tiny fraction of “the true extent of coronavirus infections in Africa”. The WHO study synthesizes over 150 prevalence studies in Africa between January 2020 and December 2021.
Up to 65% of Africans have been infected with the virus responsible for the #COVID-19, according to an analysis of @WHO. The study reveals that the actual number of infected people on the continent is 97 times higher than the confirmed cases reported.
https://t.co/LC5Q7o2yJx pic.twitter.com/gIDSAHrhEh— WHO Africa (@WHO_Africa) April 8, 2022
The study concludes that exposure to the virus has increased sharply, from 3% in June 2020 to 65% in September 2021, or 800 million infections. However, only 8.2 million cases were reported during this period. “This analysis shows that the confirmed cases of Covid-19 currently being reported represent only a fraction of the actual number of infections on the continent,” WHO Director General for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said in a statement.
“This underestimation is happening all over the world and it’s no surprise that the numbers are particularly high in Africa where there are so many asymptomatic cases.”
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Director General for Africain a press release
The number of infections worldwide would be “on average 16 times higher than that of confirmed cases”according to the WHO, which nevertheless specifies that “seroprevalence varied greatly within and between countries in Africa”. With most African populations having limited access to testing, many infections have gone unreported. If the Covid-19 seemed to shake many regions of the world, Africa appeared relatively spared contrary to initial fears.
More than 11.5 million cases of #COVID19 have been recorded on the African continent – with a total of over 10.7 million recoveries & 251,000 deaths.
View country data on the WHO Dashboard for the African Region: https://t.co/OLDIVVIePA pic.twitter.com/qYbWdZ1DBQ— WHO Africa (@WHO_Africa) April 6, 2022
The continent has distinguished itself, according to the WHO, from other regions “by its high number of asymptomatic cases, 67% of cases showing no symptoms of the disease”. But, still according to the organization, the African continent has experienced less serious cases due to the lower proportion of “people with risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and other chronic diseases that may lead to a severe form of the disease”. In addition, the youth of the African population “was another protective factor” for the mainland.