WHO report states COVID-19 infections in Africa 97% higher than reported

The World Health Organization (WHO), on Thursday, claimed in a report that nearly 65% of Africans have been affected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus which is responsible for the COVID-19 disease. The report further revealed that the actual number of infections in the continent was 97 times higher than verified cases. It also suggested that the COVID-19 virus has infected over two-thirds of Africans. According to WHO, the report, which is accessible as a pre-print under peer review, arranged approximately 151 studies on seroprevalence in Africa which were published between the time period of January 2020 and December 2021.  

According to the report, it was discovered that SARS-CoV-2 transmission increased from 3% in June 2020 to 65% in September 2021, or 800 million infections, compared to 8.2 million cases recorded at the time. Following the introduction of the Beta and Delta strains, exposure to the virus increased dramatically, according to the study. 

Referring to the recent report, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti said in an official statement, “This analysis shows that current reported COVID-19 confirmed cases are only a fraction of the actual number of infections on the continent”. She went on to say, “This under-counting is occurring worldwide and it’s no surprise that the numbers are particularly large in Africa where there are so many cases with no symptoms”.  

Africa's COVID toll

In addition to this, on the African continent, there were 11.5 million COVID-19 infections, while, about 252,000 fatalities were confirmed as of 6 April 2022. Since September 2021, the number of people who have been exposed to the virus has most certainly climbed much further, as per the report. Even though Dr Moeti claims that the number of fresh cases and fatalities have declined throughout the continent, she added, “Fresh analysis conducted by WHO reveals that available data is likely only scratching the surface of the real extent of coronavirus infections in Africa.” 

Highlighting the situation in the continent, Dr Moeti asserted that they cannot declare success over COVID-19 yet, despite Africa's dropping infections and high exposure to the disease.  

According to the WHO report, several studies have displayed that vaccination for those who have already been infected has proved to provide better protection than infection-induced immunity alone. Africa has fully immunised 209 million individuals, or 16% of the population, to date, giving 457 million vaccine doses out of 816 million obtained. WHO is assisting nations in increasing immunisation rates. 

During the virtual news conference, Dr Moeti was joined by Professor Guéladio Cissé, Coordinating Lead Author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland, and Dr Joseph Okeibunor, Team Lead, Research Development and Innovations, from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, among others.  

(Image: Shutterstock/AP)