Covid-19 Death Rate in Africa ‘Becoming Very Troubling’, Says Africa CDC

John Nkengasong

The head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Covid-19 fatality rate on the continent “is becoming very troubling” as it creeps higher than the global rate.

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John Nkengasong told reporters in Addis Ababa that the fatality rate on the 54-nation continent is now 2.6%, while the global rate is 2.2%.

Twenty African countries including South Africa and Sudan have rates higher than the global average as a resurgence of cases in parts of the continent has a far deadlier toll than the initial wave of infections last year.

Africa’s confirmed deaths in the pandemic are approaching 100,000, with more than 3.6 million cases overall.

As Covid-19 vaccines finally begin to arrive on the continent, Nkengasong said 16 countries have put in requests for a total of 114 million doses of the 270 million doses the African Union has secured from various sources.