The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged African countries to integrate COVID-19 into their disease management systems, given that the highly infectious respiratory disease remains a public health threat.
Although the WHO declared that COVID-19 was no longer a global public health emergency, the disease still exists globally, and caution is still required.
The WHO African Region COVID-19 Incident Management Support Team’s incident manager Jayne Byakika Tusiime said that African countries should transition from emergency mode to managing COVID-19 alongside other infectious diseases. Tusiime said that vaccination has been one of the life-saving tools used and encouraged people to be vaccinated. Jayne Byakika Tusiime said:
The disease still exists globally and we should not let our guard down. Let’s be cautious and protect our loved ones. It’s time for African countries to transition from emergency mode, to managing COVID-19 alongside other infectious diseases.
We need to manage COVID-19 like any other infectious disease. Let’s treat it the way we treat influenza, HIV and other diseases.
However, only four countries in Africa — Mauritius, Liberia, Seychelles and Rwanda — have vaccinated more than 70% of their populations against COVID-19. Tusiime warned that failure to encourage vaccination might trigger another catastrophe. She said that WHO would continue supporting Africa with regards to COVID-19 and other diseases, and it was time to rebuild the healthcare system.
During a cabinet meeting, Zimbabwean ministers discussed the COVID-19 situation in the country, with cumulative cases standing at 265,362; 259,378 recoveries, and 5,703 deaths as of Tuesday, NewsDay reported. They noted an increase in deaths and new admissions compared to the previous week, with five people in intensive care.
The Acting Health and Child Care Minister, Amon Murwira, also reported that cumulative suspected cholera cases had reached 2,460, with 2,243 recoveries, 16 confirmed deaths, and 47 suspected deaths as of Tuesday.