COVID-19: Africa's case-fatality ratio 2.7%

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Africa’s COVID-19 case-fatality ratio is 2.7%, more than the global average of 2.2%, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.

In a weekly press briefing held virtually, Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong said 114,000 COVID-19 patients have died, while more than 4.3 million cases have been registered across the continent – 3.3% of the total cases globally.

The number of recoveries stands at 3.8 million – 90% of the overall infections, he said, adding that more than 41 million tests have been conducted to date.

Sharing the trends, Nkengasong said Africa in the past week saw 80,000 new cases, a 4% increase compared to the previous week.

Ethiopia, Tunisia, Kenya, South Africa and Libya are the countries that reported the highest number of new cases, he said.

He said 19 countries are reporting the presence of the B.1.1.7, commonly known as the UK or Kent COVID-19 variant, while 18 states have confirmed the B.1.351, or the South African strain of coronavirus.

Regarding vaccination, he said a total of 33.8 million vaccine doses have been acquired by member states, with approximately 12.9 million doses administered. "As of today, 31 members have received their consignment of COVID vaccines from the [WHO-led] COVAX facility – over 16 million doses."