Covid-19 Variants Fuel Africa's Surging Third Wave: WHO

Brazzaville: As covid-19 case numbers in Africa climb faster than all earlier peaks, new and faster spreading variants are fuelling the continent’s surging third wave, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
 
Cases have increased in Africa for six weeks running and rose by 25% week-on-week to almost 202 000 in the week ending on June 27, reaching nine tenths of the continent’s previous record of 224 000 new cases. 
 
Deaths rose by 15% across 38 African countries to nearly 3000 in the same period.

With case numbers doubling in Africa every three weeks, the Delta variant is spreading to a growing number of countries. 
 
It has been reported in 16 countries, including nine with surging cases. 
 
It is the most contagious variant yet, an estimated 30%–60% more transmissible than other variants. 
 
It is in three of the five countries reporting the highest caseloads for the week ending June 27. 
 
And it is dominant in South Africa, which accounted for more than half of Africa’s cases in the same period. 
 
"The speed and scale of Africa’s third wave is like nothing we've seen before. The rampant spread of more contagious variants pushes the threat to Africa up to a whole new level. More transmission means more serious illness and more deaths, so everyone must act now and boost prevention measures to stop an emergency becoming a tragedy," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a press release on Thursday.
 
The Alpha and Beta variants have been reported in 32 and 27 countries respectively. 
 
The Alpha variant has been detected in most countries in north, west and central Africa. 
 
The Beta variant is more widespread in southern Africa. Both of these variants are more transmissible than the original virus.
 
With WHO support, genomic surveillance to track the spread of variants in Africa is increasing, with the aim of boosting sampling for sequencing by eight to ten times during the next six months at five laboratories covering 14 southern African countries. 
 
A better understanding of the molecular evolution of the variants will also aid countries in making quick decisions around which vaccines to use.
 
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