The WHO was alarmed Friday of the rapid progression of the coronavirus pandemic in Africa, while believing that at this stage it could still be contained.
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" Over the past week, there has been a 51% increase in the number of cases recorded on my own continent, Africa, and a 60% increase in the number of deaths recorded, " said the director general of WHO, Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. " Given the difficulty of obtaining diagnostic kits, it is likely that the real numbers will be higher, " he said during a virtual press conference from Geneva. According to the WHO, African countries need support, resources, equipment, technology transfer.
" Today we do not think the disease has passed the stage of being contained. We believe that much can be done to limit the impact of the virus. And we think we need to speed up our efforts as the number of cases increases every day, ”said Michael Ryan, director of emergency programs at WHO. Africa can boast of " real capacities " to achieve this with a " long history of fighting epidemics, a solid program against polio ", he stressed while recognizing "constraints" , linked in particular to the habitat, often dense and in precarious hygienic conditions or with limited water access.
" We don't want you to lose hope. Containing (the virus) is possible. It’s going to be a tough fight. The whole world wants to help. We need to do more, we need to allow more people to test and identify cases, establish treatment centers, to make sure that we can observe the physical distance, have water points to wash your hands where there is no running water , "said another person responsible for the management of the pandemic at the WHO , Maria Van Kerkhove. At the same time in Washington, the World Bank and the IMF indicated that the continent was missing $ 44 billion to fight the pandemic. Official and private creditors have mobilized or could mobilize up to $ 70 billion, but Africa needs 114 billion, according to these institutions.
