COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | |
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Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | Africa |
First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
Arrival date | 14 February 2020 (4 years, 6 months and 5 days ago) |
Confirmed cases | 4,155,451 (as of 23 March 2021)[1] |
Active cases | 331,375 (as of 23 March 2021)[1] |
Recovered | 3,713,065 (as of 23 March 2021)[1] |
Deaths | 110,606 (as of 23 March 2021)[1] |
Territories | 58[1] |
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COVID-19 pandemic |
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The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Africa on 14 February 2020, with the first confirmed case announced in Egypt.[2][3] The first confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa was announced in Nigeria at the end of February.[4] Within three months, the virus had spread throughout the continent, as Lesotho, the last African sovereign state to have remained free of the virus, reported a case on 13 May.[5][6] By 26 May, it appeared that most African countries were experiencing community transmission, although testing capacity was limited.[7] Most of the identified imported cases arrived from Europe and the United States rather than from China where the virus originated.[8] It is believed that there is widespread under-reporting in many African countries with less developed healthcare systems.[9]
New strains of the virus were found in December 2020 in South Africa and Nigeria, in addition to the Lineage B.1.1.7 variant reported in the United Kingdom in September.[10]
The African Union secured close to 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa; it was announced on 13 January 2021. This is independent of the global Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (COVAX) effort aimed at distributing COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries.[11] Notably, however, African countries were being charged more than double what European countries had to pay for certain vaccines.[12] The Group of Seven (G-7) promised an equitable distribution of vaccines on 19 February 2021, although few details were provided.[13] The African Union secured close to 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa; it was announced on 13 January 2021. This is independent of the global Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (COVAX) effort aimed at distributing COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries.[11] Notably, however, African countries were being charged more than double what European countries had to pay for certain vaccines.[12] The Group of Seven (G-7) promised an equitable distribution of vaccines on 19 February 2021, although few details were provided.[13]