COVID-19: AFRICA RECORDS INCREASE IN RECOVERIES AS DRC COMBATS EBOLA OUTBREAK

BoomRadioNG | June 10, 2020

The John Hopkins University and Africa CDC, analysis of COVID-19 figures have indicated that there is an increase in recoveries among infected patients thereby giving hope to the moves by governments across Africa to lift the restrictions that had forced their economies to stay locked up.

In a recent report the number of infected persons who have recovered in the continent have risen to 189,559, 82,985 about 3.8 per cent from 40.7 to 43.8 per cent.

The analysis also shows that the death rate, the number of persons contracting the virus and dying from it in Africa has reduced slightly to 2.7 per cent of patients.

Meanwhile 663 new confirmed cases and 7 deaths have so far been recorded in Nigeria which now have till date a total of 13464 confirmed cases 4206 discharged and 365 deaths recorded in 35 states including the the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

In a report obtained from NCDC shows that the 663new cases were reported from 14 states- Lagos(170), FCT(34), Ogun(108), Bauchi(69).

In a related development the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) have disclosed that the newly-identified Ebola virus circulating in the Equateur Province in western DRC is different from the one which has infected more than 3400 people in the eastern part of the country.

The DRC’s 11th Ebola outbreak was announced on 1 June 2020 after a cluster of cases was detected in the Mbandaka area of Equateur Province. The INRB genetic sequencing analysis also found that the virus in the latest outbreak is distinct from the previous one that hit the same region in 2018.

According to Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa the ongoing Ebola outbreaks are far apart and that there is a flight ban in place due to COVID-19,”.

Roland Dosumu