Some African countries heading for peak in coronavirus cases in weeks -WHO official

ABUJA, April 9 (Reuters) - Some African countries could see
a peak in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, and testing
should be urgently increased in the region, World Health
Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday.
"During the last four days we can see that the numbers have
already doubled," Michel Yao, the WHO Africa programme manager
for emergency response, told a media teleconference on Thursday.
"If the trend continues, and also learning from what
happened in China and in Europe, some countries may face a huge
peak very soon," he said, adding it could arrive in the coming
weeks but without naming countries.
The numbers of people recorded infected with the novel
coronavirus in Africa have been relatively low so far - with
nearly 11,000 cases and 562 deaths, according to a Reuters tally
based on government statements and WHO data.
The WHO's Africa head, Matshidiso Moeti, said there is an
"urgent need" to expand testing capacity beyond capital cities
in Africa, as the virus spreads through countries.
"Without help and action now, poor countries and vulnerable
communities could suffer massive devastation," WHO Director
General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told diplomats in Geneva.
"The infection numbers in Africa are relatively small now,
but they are growing fast," he said.
He noted the havoc wrought even in wealthy nations in the
100 days since China first informed the WHO of cases of a
"pneumonia of unknown cause" in the city of Wuhan.
African leaders including the presidents of South Africa,
Nigeria and Rwanda have rallied around Tedros, a former foreign
minister of Ethiopia, after U.S. President Donald Trump
criticised the United Nations agency and threatened to withhold
his country's contribution to its budget. Although Africa accounts for a fraction of global cases of
the disease, its countries are feeling the economic impact. In a
report published on Thursday, the World Bank said the outbreak
is expected to push sub-Saharan Africa into recession in 2020
for the first time in 25 years. The bank's Africa's Pulse report said the region's economy
will contract 2.1% to 5.1% from growth of 2.4% last year, and
that the new coronavirus will cost sub-Saharan Africa $37
billion to $79 billion in output losses this year due to trade
and value chain disruption, among other factors.