Africa has reached a crucial moment in
its fight against coronavirus there are
now more than 5,000 cases of coded 19and
infections have been reported in
virtually all of the 54 countries that
make up a continent of 1.2 billion
people it's taken coronavirus longer to
reach Africa than other parts of the
world but authorities in several
countries have already sprung into
action
South Africa imposed a 21-day lockdown
before a single death had been recorded
and strict measures are in place in many
countries including Rwanda Kenya and the
Democratic Republic of Congo it seems
that the continent has learned lessons
from other parts of the world and from
dealing with its own crisis with Ebola
in 2014 the World Health Organization
has also pointed to Africa's young
population as a source of hope the
median age of 19.4 could translate to
fewer fatalities per capita than
countries with elderly populations such
as Spain or Italy but conditions in
Africa are in other ways much more
challenging than in Europe or Asia
particularly when it comes to health
care the UK's National Health Service
has 7,000 critical care beds and it's
assumed that won't be enough at the
height of the crisis here
the average low-income country in
sub-saharan Africa has just 50 beds then
there are ventilators which are going to
be critical for the most severe cases
access to these varies significantly
from country to country
Mali for example has reportedly just 56
ventilators for a population of 17
million beyond this is important to look
at living conditions that are going to
make social distancing and
self-isolation
near impossible for some millions of
Africans live in informal settlements or
crowded slums some without easy access
to water and although communities
outside of cities may be less densely
populated the high prevalence of
hiv/aids and malnutrition in parts of
the continent could increase the risk
covered 19 poses to
all communities add all that up and it's
not hard to imagine that death rates
could be much higher in Africa than they
have been in other parts of the world
Bill Gates has warned the pandemic could
claim 10 million African lives if left
unchecked
that's why South Africa and others have
moved quickly to get ahead of the virus
before it can take hold but lock downs
create huge social problems in countries
where many people need to go out every
day to put food on the table and African
governments simply don't have the
financial firepower to counter a slump
in economic activity officials warn that
five to 10 percent of African GDP could
be wiped out at a stroke rich nations
have been able to borrow money at
historically low interest rates in order
to invest in their health systems and
shield workers from the worst economic
impacts just look at the two trillion
dollar stimulus package passed by the US
Congress last week the 60 vote vote
threshold having been achieved the bill
is passed many low-income countries
across Africa are now shut out of debt
markets negotiations are underway for
debt relief but Africa's recovery will
depend on much more than that the World
Bank has announced 14 billion dollars of
financial support the International
Monetary Fund has a war chest of ten
billion dollars available for the
poorest countries this is a response but
it is likely to prove insufficient
urgent action is needed to counter
economic and human catastrophe in Africa
and elsewhere the else catastrophe makes
clear that we are only as strong as the
weakest l-system global solidarity is
not only a moral imperative it is in
everyone's interests coronavirus is a
global problem if it is not stopped in
every country it will find safe havens
from which to reinfect
other parts of the world African leaders
say they cannot be left to fight the
virus alone if they fail in their
struggle the whole world will pay the
price