Late Belekanyama and Mia
By Evance Chisiano, MANA
Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has condoled Malawian leader, Lazarus Chakwera and the people of Malawi on the death of two Cabinet ministers who passed away Tuesday morning due to COVID-19.
Africa CDC Director, Dr. John Nkengasong announced the condolence during a video press conference on South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) News Channel on Thursday in which he was updating on Coronavirus vaccine to be rolled out soon among African countries in response to the pandemic.
Africa CDC Director, Dr. John Nkengasong
He also acknowledged and consoled the country over other COVID-19 related deaths that have come alongside the demise of Minister of Transport and Public Works, Mohammed Sidik Mia and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Lingson Belekanyama on Tuesday.
He also acknowledged the devastation the pandemic has caused across the continent and the globe, saying there is need for coordinated, harmonized approach and standardized way to deal with the second wave of the pandemic.
Nkengasong, therefore, disclosed that CDC had secured 270 million doses of vaccine to be administered soon in African countries.
The COVID-19 vaccine
The video conference had media houses such as AFP, BBC and SABC.
South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia are among five top most hit African countries by COVID-19 that are also expecting to benefit from the vaccine.
As of Friday, January 15, confirmed COVID-19 cases from 55 African countries reached 3,176,244 with related deaths reaching 76,741 while 2,593,474 people have recovered.
Current situation in Africa
South Africa has the most reported cases — 1,296,806 of which 35,852 are related deaths.
Other most-affected countries are Morocco (456,334), Tunisia (170,895), Egypt (153,741), Ethiopia (129,922), and Libya (107,434) while Malawi is on 28th position, up by one step as of Wednesday.
The numbers are compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University using statistics from the World Health Organization and other international institutions as well national and regional public health departments.
Friday situation report
According to COVID-19 daily updates, Malawi continues to register rising cases of the pandemic such it registered 19 deaths on Tuesday, 21 on Wednesday, 10 on Thursday and six on Friday.
Nkengasong, therefore, called on African countries to strengthen health care and information systems to effectively contain the pandemic apart from public adherence to preventive measures.
