By Duncan Miriri and Katharine Houreld
NAIROBI, April 16 (Reuters) - Coronavirus cases in Africa
could shoot up from thousands now to 10 million within three to
six months according to very provisional modelling, a regional
World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday.
But Michel Yao, head of emergency operations for WHO Africa,
said that was a tentative projection which could change and
noted worst-case predictions for the Ebola outbreak had not come
true because people changed behaviour in time.
"This is still to be fine-tuned," he told a media
teleconference. "It's difficult to make a long-term estimation
because the context changes too much and also public health
measures when they are fully implemented, they can actually have
an impact."
The world's poorest continent has seen more than 17,000
confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease and about 900 deaths so
far - relatively little compared to some other regions.
But there are fears that could balloon and overwhelm shaky
health services.
"We are concerned that the virus continues to spread
geographically, within countries," said Matshidiso Moeti,
director for WHO's Africa region, which comprises 46 sub-Saharan
nations and Algeria.
"The numbers continue to increase every day."
Infections in South Africa, which has the highest number of
cases, have slowed after it began a strict lockdown, but other
nations - like Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and Algeria - have seen higher than average fatalities.
The WHO is working with authorities there to improve patient
care and reduce fatalities, Moeti said.
TRUMP MOVE A BLOW TO AFRICA
She warned that President Donald Trump's withdrawal of U.S.
funding for the WHO could harm both the fight against against
other killers like polio, HIV and malaria.
"The impact, potentially, of this decision will be quite
significant on areas such as polio eradication," said Moeti,
just when Africa was close to being declared polio-free.
Trump accused the Geneva-based WHO on Tuesday of promoting
Chinese "disinformation" about the new coronavirus, saying this
had probably worsened the outbreak and that he would stop its
funding even as he defended his own handling of the crisis.
More than 2 million people have been infected globally, with
the largest number in the United States.
Washington is the biggest donor to the WHO, which tackles
specific diseases and also strengthens national health systems.
The United States contributed more than $400 million to the WHO
in 2019, roughly 15% of its budget.
"We are very much hoping (suspension of funding) will be
re-thought because the U.S. government is an important partner
not only in financial terms but also it is an important
strategic partner," Moeti said.
She also told the media teleconference that the organisation
requires $300 million to help African governments respond to the
pandemic.