The latest figures are worrying. “The last few weeks have notes Wakat Séra in Burkina, Covid-19 figures are experiencing a revival in the world and especially in Africa. The number of confirmed cases on the continent is just under 2.5 million, the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced the day before yesterday. South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Ethiopia are currently the African countries most affected by the pandemic in number. ”
But the numbers are not good in Central and West Africa either. top today, still in Burkina, “we must agree that the clusters and other waves on the continent, far from reaching the cases observed in France, Belgium or Italy, really exist and that coronavirus has recovered in several African countries. explains that the coronavirus has spread further: relaxation of barrier measures, denial and lack of tests to get an accurate idea of the cases and finally the number of asymptomatic cases, ie infected who do not develop the disease.Thus continues today, with the election in Guinea and Ivory Coast “that meetings that attracted crowds favored pollution, especially since the use of masks and friction was not always recommended. In addition, the lifting of curfews and other quarantines that have cut the pollution chain has further encouraged relaxation in bars, pubs and markets …”
Mali tightens the screw
Result: some countries are taking drastic measures, such as Mali … With a “screw for health and safety”, utropar Le Point Afrique: “Between the lack of resources and the absence of stricter measures, the Malian authorities had no choice but to remain firm, while the number of Covid-19 cases has increased for several weeks. So last Friday the ax fell, states Le Point Afrique: closing schools, bars, restaurants and some shops until January 10. And to go further, Mali has decided on a “health warning” for six months and a state of emergency for ten days. “This is a matter of life and death,” a government spokesman said.
In fact, Le Point Afrique continues, “Today, almost nine months after the start of the pandemic, Mali has 6,049 cases, including 211 deaths, for a population of about 20 million. And “today we are seeing an almost exponential growth of the pandemic across the national territory”, confirms the Ministry of Health. “
New virus variant discovered in South Africa
The situation is also alarming in South Africa. In addition to the still high number of cases, “a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 has indeed been identified in South Africa, tips World Africaand seems to be spreading at an unmatched speed. South African researchers were the first to find out. They are the ones who warned their counterparts around the world, which led to the discovery of a variant close to the one discovered in Britain in particular. This new variant of SARS-CoV-2 has a name: “501.V2”. Identified in early October, “it began to dominate very quickly the samples we sequence” “, analyzes a South African virologist interviewed by the newspaper.” In mid-November, this ‘501.V2’ variant represented 90% of the genomes sequenced by “South African researchers. An unmatched proportion. Which suggests that this variant is spreading faster than the others.”
So Le Monde Afrique asks, “can this new variant reduce the effect of vaccines available on the market?” Response from Professor Richard Lessells from the laboratory who identified this variant: “This mutation is worrying because it affects an element used by antibodies to neutralize the virus, but it should be noted that the developed vaccines provide a broad immune response. spectrum. We think it is unlikely that a simple mutation will question the response to the vaccine, but we do not know until the tests have been performed in the laboratory. “
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