W.H.O. Predicts 94% Drop in Coronavirus Deaths in Africa: ‘The Job Is Not Done’

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) predicted on Thursday that deaths caused by the Chinese coronavirus in Africa will drop by 94 percent this year compared to 2021.

Citing an analysis published this week in the Lancet Global Health scientific journal, the W.H.O. said Africa reported 113,102 deaths from the Chinese coronavirus in 2021.

“[M]odelling suggests that around 23 000 deaths are expected by the end of 2022 if current variants and transmission dynamics remain constant,” the W.H.O. reported on June 2 at a virtual press conference.

“The decline in cases and deaths in 2022 is due to increasing vaccinations, improved pandemic responses and natural immunity from previous infections that, while not preventing re-infections, stop severe forms of the disease leading to death,” United Nations (U.N.) News reported on Thursday. The W.H.O. is the international public health body of the U.N..

The W.H.O.’s anti-Chinese coronavirus efforts, coupled with natural herd immunity, decreased deaths from the disease by nearly 100 percent across Africa over the past year. W.H.O. Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti managed to spin this objectively positive news into an opportunity to project fear and pessimism onto the African public on June 2.

“However, the job is not yet done. Every time we sit back and relax, COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] flares up again. The threat of new variants remains real, and we need to be ready to cope with this ever-present danger,” Moeti told reporters at Thursday’s press conference.

Supporting Moeti’s choice to speculate about theoretical future threats to Africa’s public health, U.N. News on June 2 highlighted modeling featured in this week’s Lancet analysis which “suggests that if current variants and transmission dynamics [of the Chinese coronavirus] remain constant, around 23,000 people are expected to die [in Africa] by the end of this year.”

“However, a variant that is 200 per cent more lethal, would cause an increase in deaths to more than 70,000,” U.N. News relayed.

The news outlet did not specify which strain of the Chinese coronavirus the Lancet currently considers “most lethal.”

Africa’s death toll from the Chinese coronavirus is significantly lower than those recorded on other continents, the Financial Times observed on May 29.

“Africa has accounted for just 8.3 per cent of the world’s 14.9mn [million] excess deaths during the pandemic, according to a World Health Organization analysis, despite having 16.7 per cent of the global population. Some experts say the low death rate could be due to Africa being the youngest continent, with a median age of 19.7 against 42.5 in Europe,” the business newspaper noted.

Africa’s low death rate for the Chinese coronavirus coincides with a low vaccination rate against the disease, suggesting the continent has benefited from high levels of herd immunity.

“Only 17.4 per cent of Africa’s population is double-vaccinated, the lowest figure of any continent. Among European Union nations, the equivalent figure stands at 73.5 per cent,” according to the Financial Times.