Falling infection rates bring hope in Africa

John Nkengasong, Africa's Director of the Centers for DiseaseControl (CDC), speaks during an interview with Reuters at the African Union(AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on March 11, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

African countries are graduallyreducing rates of coronavirus infections, prompting guarded optimism from thecontinent's peak health agency that the pandemic is coming under control.

John Nkengasong, director of theAfrica Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Africa CDC, said thecontinent is recording a slight decrease in infection rates.

Nkengasong, in a statement issued bythe African Union on Saturday, said that over the past week Africa had reportedan average of 10,344 new cases a day, compared to 11,494 the week before and14,447 the previous week.

Still, Nkengasong advised Africans toincrease the use of masks and remain vigilant on social distancing, whileurging authorities to ramp up testing as countries begin to ease lockdownmeasures.

"We do not want the population toshow prevention fatigue. We are dealing with a delicate virus that can easilyflare up again very quickly, as has been witnessed in other parts of theworld," he said.

Africa had recorded 1,187,937 casesand 27,779 deaths by Monday.

According to the Africa CDC, fivecountries account for 73 percent of all cases in the continent, led by SouthAfrica with 52 percent, Egypt 8 percent, and Nigeria, Morocco and Ghana eachwith 4 percent.

Despite being the hardest-hit countryin Africa with over 609,800 cases and 13,100 deaths, South Africa has easedmost of the restrictions imposed on people.

On Aug 15, President Cyril Ramaphosasaid the number of new cases is dropping and that infection rates have peakedin several provinces, including Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng andKwaZulu-Natal.

The Africa CDC said Africa is workingtoward the concept of "trusted testing" for coronavirus in order toenable safer cross-border travel. This will entail mutual recognition ofcertified coronavirus test procedures among the member states.

Nkengasong said a scheme known as thePartnership for Increased Coronavirus Testing will be used to enhancesurveillance of people across a range of economic sectors.

Rolled out in June when the continenthad conducted fewer than 400,000 tests, the initiative began with a target of10 million tests across the continent. Some 10,256,000 tests have since beenconducted.

Nkengasong said a new target of 20million tests by the beginning of November has been set, with officials aimingto capitalize on the gains so far.