While the continent has a number of lessons for the rest of the world regarding handling COVID-19 and pandemics, its comparatively lower testing rate is raising concerns that the official figures from the region do not accurately capture the true extent of pandemic.
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates predicted it could claim about 10 million lives in Africa. His wife and co-chair of the Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates, added that without drastic actions, COVID-19 could lead to dead bodies lining the streets of Africa.
But Africa has recorded fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than other parts of the world. Despite the poor quality of health systems across the African continent, the case fatality rate (CFR) in Africa is among the longest globally, hovering around 2% against Europe’s 6.3%, South America’s 3.4%, North America (3.9%), and a global CFR of 3.7% as at August 7.