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WHO: 44 Million Africans at Risk for COVID-19

VOA News

   Up to 44 million people in Africa could come down with the coronavirus
   and 190,000 will die if the virus is not contained, the World Health
   Organization said.

   A new WHO report looked at 47 countries on the African continent. It
   said that while the rates of transmission in Africa would be slower
   than in other parts of the world during the pandemic's first year,
   COVID-19 in Africa could "smolder" for a long time in what the report
   called hot spots.

   "COVID-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several
   years unless a proactive approach is taken by many governments in the
   region," said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa regional director. "We
   need to test, trace, isolate and treat."

   If little or nothing is done, Moeti said, the medical capacity across
   Africa would be "overwhelmed" and added that curbing a large-scale
   outbreak is far costlier than the ongoing preventive measures
   governments are undertaking to contain the spread of the virus.

   United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the U.N. is
   boosting its appeal for aid to help some of the world's poorest
   countries fight the coronavirus by billions of dollars, saying Thursday
   that $6.7 billion is needed.

   The World Bank on Thursday approved $506 million in emergency loans to
   Ecuador, which is grappling with one of Latin America's worst
   outbreaks. The approval comes just days after the International
   Monetary Fund gave its backing to $643 million in aid to Ecuador.

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