WHO warns Africa to ‘prepare for the worst’

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised African countries to prepare for the worst as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread on the continent. 

Africa is still the least affected continent, but health experts worry that ill-equipped public health systems could quickly become overwhelmed.

The WHO’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “Africa should wake up … in other countries, we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point”. 

So far 16 deaths from coronavirus have been reported in Africa: six in Egypts, six in Algeria, two in Morocco, one in Sudan and one in Burkina Faso.

The death in Burkina Faso on Wednesday marks the first fatality in West Africa. Authorities identified the patient as the 62-year-old Vice President of the National Assembly Rose Marie Compaoré.

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