https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/tl-pss021920.php
Increased resources, surveillance, and capacity building should be urgently prioritised in African countries with moderate risk of importing cases of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as these countries are estimated to be ill-prepared to detect cases and limit transmission.
The new findings are from a modelling study published in The Lancet that estimates the preparedness (ie, health system capacity) and vulnerability (ie, demographic, environmental, socioeconomic and political conditions that could impact a country's ability to respond) of African countries, as well as their likelihood of importing COVID-19 cases from China. The authors note that their findings need to be interpreted in context, and they estimate that the overall risk of importing COVID-19 cases to Africa is lower than to Europe (1% vs 11% of people travelling out of China go to Africa or Europe, respectively) but that the response and reaction capacity is more limited in Africa.
Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Nigeria were included in the 13 top priority countries identified by the World Health Organization (WHO), based on their direct links and volume of travel to China [1]. The first case of COVID-19 in Africa was confirmed in Egypt on Friday 14 February 2020.
China is Africa's leading commercial partner with high volumes of travel between the two locations through which the novel coronavirus could reach the continent.
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