The World Health Organisation, WHO, Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, says there are now 147 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, COVID-19, in Africa in 15 countries and there have been four COVID-19-related deaths.
The UN Health agency disclosed this in a statement posted on its website.
It said that the agency had on Wednesday declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: “With COVID-19 officially declared a pandemic, all countries in Africa must act.
“Every country can still change the course of this pandemic by scaling up their emergency preparedness or response.
“Cases may still be low in Africa and we can keep it that way with robust all-of-government actions to fight the new coronavirus.”
According to her, containment remains the most appropriate strategy for African countries.
Apart from South Africa and Algeria – which have clusters of transmission linked to imported cases – the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African region are sporadic importations from European countries, mainly Italy, France, Germany and Spain.
