COVID-19: Are Africa’s diagnostic challenges blunting response effectiveness?

Abstract

Since its emergence in Wuhan,

Do the Moroccan SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity hamper the use of the developed universal vaccines in Morocco?

“…The new coronavirus 2019, also known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (1) is the causative agent of COVID-19, a new type of pneumonia that caused in late December, 2020, an epidemic in Wuhan, China, and then spread to 215 countries around the world. In February, 2020, COVID-19 was emerged in North African countries, notably in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco (2,3). The first case was reported in Egypt on February 14, followed by Algeria on February 25, then Morocco and Tunisia on the same day, March 2, 2020 (2,3).…”

“…In February, 2020, COVID-19 was emerged in North African countries, notably in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco (2,3). The first case was reported in Egypt on February 14, followed by Algeria on February 25, then Morocco and Tunisia on the same day, March 2, 2020 (2,3). Due to the rapid transmission of viruses in the 5 continents and the large number of confirmed cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared (March 11, 2020) COVID-19 as a global pandemic (4).…”

“…USA has the largest population of confirmed cases (2,367,064) and deaths (121,645) (5). Meanwhile, South America and Europe were also hit hard with 1,188,631 and 620,794 confirmed cases in Brazil and Russia, on their respective continents, while the African region had the least number of cases, with 258,752 (5).…”

Reflecting on the first two COVID-19 deaths in Uganda: a public health case study

“…Since its emergence in December 2019, the novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quickly spread globally, creating a pandemic of global threat [1,2]. On 11 th March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic having spread to over 110 countries and territories [1,3]. As per 26…”

“…July 2020, 15,785,641 cases and 640,016 deaths had been con rmed globally, with 696,207 cases (4.4%) and 11,708 deaths (1.8%) reported in Africa [4]. African countries are generally showing much fewer cases compared to other continents; however, their inability to test many people may largely underestimate incidence rates [3]. Uganda reported the rst case of COVID-19 on 21st March 2020, and as per 30 th July 2020, 1,147 cases had been reported with 1028 recoveries and two deaths with 272,805 tests done [5,6].…”