Cases spread to Africa, be aware of Covid

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has spread from China to 68 countries around the world, the WHO raised its alert to the highest level. Beware of the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, including to several countries in Africa that WHO had previously warned against.

"We are at the highest level of awareness or the highest level of risk assessment in terms of spread and impact," said Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO's health emergencies program.

Currently, Tuesday (3/3) COVID-19 has spread to dozens of countries on all continents - except Antarctica. This virus has infected more than 90 thousand people, including two of them in Indonesia.

Ryan emphasized that this appeal was not intended to cause panic. “This is a reality check for every government on the planet: Get up, get ready, this virus is probably on its way there and you have to be ready. You have an obligation to your citizens, you have an obligation to the world, ”he stressed.

Beware of the COVID-19 outbreak in countries in Africa

Before there were positive cases of COVID-19 in Africa, WHO has reminded African countries to be more vigilant in preventing COVID-19. WHO is concerned that when one case of COVID-19 infects in Africa it will spread quickly.

For weeks, health officials have warned that the worst-case scenario for the outbreak is spreading to Africa, where many countries have fragile health systems.

Because after limiting the mobility in and out of the country the most important next step is the implementation and implementation of detection measures, prevention of transmission and strict control.

The applicability of a wide range of technical and operational interventions will depend on each country's health facilities and laboratory infrastructure.

The Lancet journal entitled Preparedness and vulnerability of African countries against importations of COVID-19 also describes an evaluation of the readiness of countries in Africa to face this outbreak.

In the report the researchers provide a model of how COVID-19 has the potential to infect countries in Africa and they must be vigilant. Including an estimate of the extent to which the country can handle this COVID-19 case.

Researchers in the journal divided the countries of Africa into two categories.

• First, countries that have medium to high capacity, it can be said that they are well-established in responding to COVID-19. These countries are Egypt, Algeria and South Africa.
• Meanwhile, in the second category are countries that are vulnerable and have a weak capacity to respond to outbreaks. Namely Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Ghana and Kenya.

According to the report, countries in this second category are most likely not ready to detect cases and unable to limit transmission.

Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria are among the 13 top priority countries identified by WHO based on the number and volume of direct flights to China.

COVID-19 Outbreak updates Country: IndonesiaData

1,024,298

Confirmed

831,330

Recovered

28,855

DeathDistribution Map

Africa's condition in dealing with COVID-19

In Africa as of Monday (2/3), there were two cases in Egypt, 3 cases in Algeria and one Nigeria in the densely populated city of Lagos.

“I want to assure all Nigerians that we have increased our preparedness capabilities since the first case in China. We will use all the resources provided by the government to handle this case, ”Nigerian Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a statement posted on his official social media accounts.

One positive case of COVID-19 in one of Africa's most populous cities raises a lot of concern and raises awareness. Concern is increasing because this case could quickly spread throughout the city.

Some said Nigeria was ready and alert to face COVID-19 seeing how they handled Ebola in the 2014-2016 period. Apart from Ebola, they have experience fighting measles, cholera and polio, among many other infectious diseases.

Not enough Ebola experience?

But some experts say COVID-19 is not Ebola. They differ in transmission. COVID-19 is a respiratory virus and is more contagious, with coughing or sneezing enough to catch someone. This difference is one of the reasons Africa needs to be more vigilant about COVID-19.

Report Journal of The Lancet it also noted, some countries remain ill-equipped. Some countries do not even have the diagnostic capacity for rapid virus testing. So if there is a suspect case you have to bring a sample to be tested overseas.

This may critically delay the identification of suspected cases, delay their isolation period, and influence the likelihood of disease transmission.

WHO is currently supporting countries to increase their diagnostic capacity. In the African region, this capacity has now grown to become a reference for a large number of countries. The capacity of these laboratories is still limited due to a shortage of trained personnel to run the tests, and insufficient material stocks to carry out these tests.

In some countries in Africa, resources for setting up quarantine rooms or for tracing positive case contacts as recommended by WHO may be scarce.

Because even though 74 percent of countries in Africa have preparedness plans to face the spread of influenza-like viruses, some are outdated - which are used for handling the 2009 H1N1 virus. This facility is deemed inadequate to be vigilant against COVID-19 in Africa.

Some of these countries do not have the established capacity to repatriate their citizens residing in Hubei as other countries do.

"These findings can be able to help inform the urgent situation to assist and provide support to vulnerable countries in Africa," the journal wrote in its recommendation.