Concerns rise as surge in coronavirus cases sees Africa pass two million

Africa has surpassed two million confirmed coronavirus cases as health officials warn of infections starting to creep up again into a second surge.

Meanwhile, as coronavirus cases surge across the Middle East, the regional director for the World Health Organisation said that the only way to avoid mass deaths is for countries to quickly tighten restrictions and enforce preventative measures.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday that the 54-country continent has seen more than 48,000 deaths from Covid-19.

The continent of 1.3 billion people is being warned against “prevention fatigue” as countries loosen pandemic restrictions to ease their economies' suffering and more people travel.

Africa's CD C director John Nkengasong said: “We cannot relent. If we relent, then all the sacrifices we put into efforts over the past 10 months will be wiped away.”

He expressed concern that“many countries are not enforcing public health measures, including masking, which is extremely important”.

While the world takes hope from recent news about promising Covid-19 vaccines, African health officials also worry that the continent will suffer as richer countries buy up supplies.

Mr Nkengasong warned that the Pfizer vaccine requires storage at minus 70 C, and such a requirement “already creates an imbalance in the fair distribution or access to those vaccines” as richer countries will be better equipped to move quickly.

In a briefing from Cairo, Ahmed al-mandhari, director of WHO'S eastern Mediterranean region, which comprises most of the Middle East, expressed concern that countries in the area were lowering their guard after tough lockdowns earlier this year.

Mr al-Ma nd hari said the fundamentals of pandemic response, from social distancing to mask wearing, are still not being fully practised in the region.

He said the result is apparent throughout the region's crowded hospitals.

Noting that the virus had infected more than 3.6 million people and killed more than 76,000 in the region over the past nine months, Mr al-Mandhari warned “the lives of as many people – if not more – are at stake," urging action to “prevent this tragic premonition from becoming a reality”.

More than 60 percent of all new infections in the past week were reported from Iran, which has seen the worst outbreak in the region, as well as Jordan and Morocco, he said.

Cases are also up in Lebanon and Pakistan. Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon have reported the biggest single - day death spikes from the region.

From Pakistan, Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the prime minister for national health services, told reporters the winter surge had arrived.

Although Pakistan managed to control the outbreak with targeted restrictions earlier this year, the forecast turned more alarming as the country unlocked, he said.

Mr Sultan said: “The second wave is just as risky if not more than the first.”