COVID-19 measures in Africa: latest report is out
The Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC Coalition), a joint effort between Resolve to Save Lives, IPSOS, Africa CDC, World Health Organization, UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, Novetta Mission Analytics and the World Economic Forum, has released its latest bi-weekly report about the implementation of Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) in Africa, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These reports serve as a tool to help governments and decision-makers understand the full picture of current public health and safety measures, as well as their societal and economic impacts.
Some interesting findings in this brief include information on how COVID-19 has affected healthcare workers across Africa, and how public mistrust of governments and international agencies is affecting adherence to public health and social measures, and fuelling vaccine hesitancy. The report also provides a regional breakdown of disease dynamics and interventions across the continent.
Other key takeaways include:
- Reported COVID-19 cases increased by 8.5% between 14 and 27 July compared to the previous two weeks, driven by new cases in southern and eastern Africa.
- Across all regions, reports of non-adherence to public health and social measures (PHSM) are growing, driven by government mistrust, increases in unemployment and rampant misinformation narratives.
- More than 11,000 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19, and demands from healthcare workers for fair compensation and better personal protective equipment (PPE) are on the rise. There have been 193 healthcare worker protests related to COVID-19.
- COVID-19 could push between 26-39 million people in sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty by 2021, according to a World Bank report.
You can see the full report here. Check back in two weeks for the next release.