WHO warning as coronavirus pandemic accelerating in Africa
● But Europe aims for reopened borders by the end of this month
The coronavirus pandemic in Africa is “accelerating”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.
While it took 98 days for the continent to reach 100,000 coronavirus cases, it took just 18 days to get to 200,000.
WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said that community transmission has begun in more than half of Africa’s 54 countries and “this is a serious sign”.
The virus largely arrived on the continent via travellers from Europe and is spreading beyond capital cities and commercial hubs into more rural areas where many health systems are unequipped to handle cases that require intensive care.
Ms Moeti pointed out South Africa, where the virus has spread from Western Cape province centred on Cape Town into the more rural Eastern Cape. South Africa has the continent’s highest number of cases with more than 55,000.
She said “I’m afraid we probably will have to live with a steady increase” of cases in Africa until an effective vaccine is found.
Africa has more than 209,000 cases, still a small fraction – less than 3 per cent – of the global total.
The WHO warning came as the European Union urged all member countries to start lifting travel restrictions on their common borders from next week, saying the closures they introduced to tackle coronavirus do little to limit its spread.
The EU’S executive arm, the European Commission, wants Europe’s ID check-free travel area to be up and running again by the end of June. Once that has happened, a ban on non-essential travel to the continent can also gradually be eased.
Unveiling the recommendations for helping to breathe new life into Europe’s virusravaged tourism sector, EU home affairs commissioner
Ylva Johansson told member countries that they “should open up as soon as possible, and the commission recommends to do it already on Monday”.
Ms Johansson said that the virus situation “is really improving in all member states, the situation is converging”, and she said that Europe’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has reported “that having internal border restrictions is not an effective measure”.
In a report dated 26 May, the
ECDC said that “the relative significance of transmission through tourism and long-distance travel will probably be small compared to ongoing transmission occurring in the local setting and as a result of local transportation”.
Panicked by Italy’s coronavirus outbreak in February, countries in the 26-nation Schengen travel zone – where people and goods move freely without border checks – imposed border restrictions to try to keep the disease out.
Free movement is a jewel in Europe’s crown that helps its businesses flourish and many European officials worry that the future of the Schengen area is under threat from coronavirus travel restrictions. These added to border pressures already caused by the arrival in Europe of more than one million migrants in 2015.
Many EU countries have announced that they are indeed easing internal border restrictions from 15 June, but some remain reluctant to do so, fearful that the disease might not be entirely under control in some of their neighbours.
Ms Johansson said the Schengen area has to function again before Europe’s borders to the outside world can open, and the commission is keen for countries to start easing the ban on travel into the continent by 1 July.
“While we will all have to remain careful, the time has come to make concrete preparations for lifting restrictions with countries whose health situation is similar to the EU’S and for resuming visa operations,” Ms Johansson said.