WHO calls for more COVID-19 testing in Africa

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organisation-WHO is calling for more testing for COVID-19 to be carried out in African countries to know the exact number of infected people.

The call was made during a virtual press briefing on Friday. While many countries on the continent have put in place strict physical distancing measures followed by the closure of schools, curfews and even national lockdowns, WHO officials note that this is not enough. They want more testing to be carried out to control the spread of the disease.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General says more testing needs to be done because many countries with poor health systems are under-declaring cases because they do not have the means to test.

Data from WHO shows that on average 500 new cases and 20 deaths are recorded every day.

While these figures are high, WHO officials think they could be a lot higher. Dr Tedros says that more testing is needed for Africa to find the virus.

Dr Tedros says that in addition to providing more test kits, there’s an urgent need to find a vaccine. Several vaccine studies have begun in different parts of the world.

“We working towards making sure that a vaccine is developed for the disease so that we do not face another pandemic,” Dr Tedros said.

It is estimated that over 17,000 people in Africa have been infected with the disease and over 900 have died.

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