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WHO Says a Dire Third Wave of Coronavirus Is About to Hit Africa

“The threat of a third wave in Africa is real and rising,” wrote the agency’s regional director.

The World Health Organization said Thursday that a third wave of coronavirus infections is threatening to overwhelm health-care systems across the entire African continent. The rate of infections has increased by 20 percent across Africa in the last two weeks, and specific countries have seen extreme spikes. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa, wrote, “The threat of a third wave in Africa is real and rising. The pandemic is trending upwards in 14 countries and in the past week alone, eight countries witnessed an abrupt rise of over 30% in cases… Uganda saw a 131% week-on-week rise last week.” Moeti said that vaccine access across the continent has remained uneven, with only 2 percent of the overall population immunized against COVID-19 and many countries unable to inoculate even high-risk groups. Care for infected patients has lagged as well, Moeti said, leading to higher rates of death among the infected.