PUSH NEWS 24 INTERNATIONAL : December 15th, 2021
COVID19 : US RECORDS HIGHEST DEATHS DESPITE “DOOM” PREDICTION FOR AFRICAN COUNTRIES
The United States of America has currently the highest number of deaths resulting from COVID-19 incidences Push News 24 International can confirm.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and then a pandemic on 11 March 2020 , highlighting its rapid global spread and risk of overwhelming healthcare services with patients requiring critical care. By 22 April 2020, WHO situation reports (SITREPs), indicated 56 African countries/territories reporting at least one laboratory-confirmed infection (‘reported case’) of COVID-19.
New analysis from IHME highlights the true toll of the pandemic.
Globally, COVID-19 has caused approximately 6.9 million deaths, more than double what official numbers show, according to a new analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine. IHME found that COVID-19 deaths are significantly underreported in almost every country.
The updated analysis shows that the United States has had more COVID-19 deaths to-date than any other country, a total of more than 905,000. By region, Latin America and the Caribbean and Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia were hardest hit in terms of total deaths. This figure only includes deaths caused directly by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, not deaths caused by the pandemic’s disruption to health care systems and communities.
Africa has accounted for a relatively small number of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard Wamai, a Northeastern associate professor of cultures, societies, and global studies, wanted to know why the official numbers differed so widely with projections from the early days of the pandemic that Africa would be especially vulnerable to the disease.
“The predictions of mass COVID casualties were based on a misunderstanding of the continent,” says Wamai, who has co-authored a new paper that details why the gloomy predictions have largely gone unrealized. “There are lessons we can learn about how the continent has handled the pandemic, or how the pandemic has manifested in the continent.”
Africa has accounted for a relatively small number of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard Wamai, a Northeastern associate professor of cultures, societies, and global studies, wanted to know why the official numbers differed so widely with projections from the early days of the pandemic that Africa would be especially vulnerable to the disease.
“The predictions of mass COVID casualties were based on a misunderstanding of the continent,” says Wamai, who has co-authored a new paper that details why the gloomy predictions have largely gone unrealized. “There are lessons we can learn about how the continent has handled the pandemic, or how the pandemic has manifested in the continent.”
Not only has Africa utilized unrecognized strengths to help fend off COVID-19, says Wamai, but it also offers clues that can be applied against future pandemics. Africa represents 12.5 percent of the global population, but it accounted for just 4 percent of the 3.4 million deaths that had been reported around the world as of May 18.
Predictions that Africa would suffer catastrophically were based on beliefs that the continent would be vulnerable to poverty, unsanitary living conditions, and weak healthcare systems. Instead, says Wamai, national and local governments already had healthcare systems in place to deal with HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and other epidemics. By April 2020, a large majority of African countries had enacted at least five “stringent” public health and social measures in response to the pandemic, according to The Lancet.
Push News 24 International …we speak your mind!