Africa CDC gears up preparedness for COVID-19 upsurge eventuality

Drawing lessons from the devastating coronavirus upsurge in India, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is readapting its strategy to focus on strong prevention measures.

According to John Nkengasong, the director of Africa CDC, intensification of prevention measures is a guaranteed way of ensuring the continent avoids a situation similar to India.

To prevent further spread of the virus, Nkengasong said the specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union is relying on three things: distribution of vaccines, development of risk communication tools and deployment of community health worker footprint to support community engagement.

"We want to ensure vaccine acquisition is increased and vaccination is accelerated along with enhanced public health measures," Nkengasong said during a virtual joint meeting of AU ministers of health held over the weekend.

"I appeal to member states to go to the African Medical Supplies Platform or amsp. Africa portal and secure their vaccines."

Nkengasong said the Africa CDC is also committed to endorsing new monitoring tools and guidance and encouraging member states to report more to give the agency a clear picture of what's going on.

This is in addition to establishing and strengthening sequencing capacity for surveillance, enhancing diagnostic testing or contact tracing, doing sero-prevalence and enhancing surveillance across all member states.

"We will also ensure we have a ready supply of essential medicines for coronavirus, equip our member states with appropriate supply of oxygen and employ appropriate guidance and training to manage all coronavirus manifestations," Nkengasong said.

He urged member states to increase their uptake of rapid antigen tests, which he said is a game-changer if used effectively.

The antigen test detects protein fragments specific to the coronavirus and has a result turnaround time of 15 minutes.

Polymerase chain reaction tests, on the other hand, detect genetic material specific to the virus and can detect it within days of infection, even those without symptoms. It has a result turnaround of 2-3 days.

Nkengasong said while antigen testing kits have been distributed to the 55 member states, only 12 countries are actively using and reporting results.

To date, 44.8 million coronavirus tests have been conducted across Africa.

The continent is also experiencing the spread of new variants of coronavirus, with 22 countries reporting the B.1.1.7 variant that was first found in United Kingdom.

Additionally, 23 member states are reporting the B.1.352 variant, first detected in South Africa in October, while Angola, Kenya, Morocco and Uganda are reporting the B.1.617 variant, which is the predominant virus in India.

The "double mutant" variant is showing the ability to escape and evade antibodies created by a prior infection or vaccination, Nkengasong said.

Apart from the African countries, the variant has also spread to Germany, Belgium, UK, Switzerland, the US, Australia and Singapore.

However, despite the spread of the new virus variants, many African countries are recording reduced rates of new infections.

According to Africa CDC data, over the past four weeks Africa recorded an overall 5 percent average decrease in new cases reported each week, with the eastern and western regions having recorded a 16 and 10 percent decrease, respectively.

The central region recorded the highest number of new cases, with a 40 percent increase, followed by the southern region with 4 percent and the north with a 0.2 percent increase.

DR Congo recorded the highest number of new cases among the most populous countries in the continent, with a 12 percent average increase, followed by Egypt with a 10 percent average increase and South Africa with 8 percent average increase.

Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya recorded reduced new cases with 5 percent, 18 percent and 19 percent average decreases respectively.

However, the continent recorded increased death rates, with an overall 4 percent average increase in new deaths reported each week.

Among the most populous countries in Africa, Egypt recorded the highest number of deaths with an 11 percent average increase, followed by Kenya with 7 percent and Ethiopia with 3 percent. South Africa recorded a 2 percent average decrease.

Despite the decreased infections, Nkengasong called on communities from across Africa to continue adhering to the health measures of wearing face masks, observing social distancing and hands hygiene, terming them as effective prevention measures against the spread of coronavirus.

Nkengasong said currently there is fatigue in adherence to health protocols, noting a recent survey by the Africa CDC indicated 56 percent of member states have decreased adherence to wearing face masks.