Africa to have 100% testing capacity for Coronavirus – WHO

In coming weeks, all African countries will have the capacity to test for coronavirus as part of preparedness for the rampaging virus, Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization Head for Africa region said on Monday.

 

According to Moeti, the UN health body is hopeful that all nations in sub-Saharan Africa will be able to test for the coronavirus soon.

 

“We expect in the next couple of weeks that all 47 of our member states will have the facilities to diagnose this virus,” she told the British broadcaster, BBC.

 

Some 33 countries in the region already have facilities in place, a boost from previous months.

 

The African Union’s Center for Disease Control, CDC, has also been in the forefront of boosting the capacity of member states.

 

The WHO Africa head admitted that it would be problematic if the virus spreads rapidly to African cities with no facilities to contain and treat people.

 

Senegal’s infectious diseases outfit, Institute Pasteur de Dakar, is set to roll out a coronavirus testing kit, its head Dr Amaduo Sall has confirmed.

 

Dr Sall said the infrastructure to make the kits will be ready in two weeks’ time and the kits will probably be launched by June, the BBC Africa reports.

 

The kit, when released, will be a game changer in diagnosing persons with the deadly disease. The Quartz Africa site reports that the current testing process done strictly by laboratories takes up to a day to give results.

 

Conversely, the kits being developed in Dakar should turn out results within 10 minutes.

Several African states have imposed far-reaching restrictions in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, which has so far affected 27 countries in the continent, with Benin, Liberia, Somalia and Tanzania being the latest African countries to report cases.

 

In total, nearly 350 people have been diagnosed with the virus across Africa. Seven people have died while 42 have recovered, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

 

Most of the cases involve people arriving from Europe and North America.