FACTS about COVID19 Africa!

African Union Member States (53) reporting COVID-19 :

• Cases: 61,181
• Deaths: 2,239
• Recoveries: 20,932

Central Africa	5335 Cases	208 Deaths	1601 Recoveries
Burundi	19	1	7
Cameroon	2265	108	1221
Central African Republic	143	0	12
Chad	322	31	53
Congo	287	10	45
DRC	991	41	136
Equatorial Guinea	439	4	13
Gabon	661	8	110
Sao Tome & Principe	208	5	4

Eastern Africa	5929 Cases	187 Deaths	2244 Recoveries
Comoros	11	1	0
Djibouti	1189	3	834
Eritrea	39	0	37
Ethiopia	239	5	99
Kenya	672	32	239
Madagascar	193	0	104
Mauritius	332	10	320
Rwanda	280	0	140
Seychelles	11	0	10
Somalia	1054	51	118
South Sudan	120	0	2
Sudan	1164	64	119
Tanzania	509	21	167
Uganda	116	0	55

North Africa	21829 Cases	1253 Deaths	7783 Recoveries
Algeria	5723	502	2546
Egypt	8964	514	2002
Libya	64	3	24
Mauritania	8	1	6
Morocco	6038	188	2545
Tunisia	1032	45	660

South Africa	10115 Cases	205 Deaths	4204 Recoveries
Angola	43	2	13
Botswana	23	1	9
Eswatini	163	2	14
Malawi	56	3	14
Mozambique	91	0	34
Namibia	16	0	11
South Africa	9420	186	3983
Zambia	267	7	117
Zimbabwe	36	4	9

West Africa	17973 Cases	386 Deaths	5100 Recoveries
Benin	319	2	62
Burkina Faso	784	48	569
Cape Verde	246	2	56
Cote d’Ivoire	1667	21	769
Gambia	20	1	9
Ghana	4263	22	378
Guinea	2042	11	698
Guinea-Bissau	642	3	25
Liberia	199	20	79
Mali	692	37	298
Niger	815	45	617
Nigeria	4151	128	745
Senegal	1709	18	650
Sierra Leone	307	18	58
Togo	153	10	87

Secret Burials in South Africa might help tackle Covid-19

According to the current rules, 50 individuals are allowed to attend a funeral but there are too few. The funeral blends traditional African and Christian elements for most black South Africans. When a family is deprived, it’s time for people to attend the funeral and ritual day in time. This involves visiting the family again and again in order to pay respect and to help plan. Livestock must also be slaughtered to supply the expected guest, cooking must be done, often in close proximity, and the tomb must be dug, sometimes with people having the same pick and shovel in rural areas.

Also Read: Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Africa

The attendees of the ceremonies are not usually familiar to the impoverished family. They may come from the local church, from the entertainment industry, or even a passer-by who hears the unfortunate incident and wants to help him. Hundreds assemble in close proximity on the day of the funeral to a church service. When the activities are over, community leaders form a human chain to distribute the food to the hundreds. And, again in close proximity, guests are dining together. These ceremonies are performed with a ritual to purify the family of a “dark cloud of death.”

Usually, they are private matters with only a close family present. In addition to reducing the risk of coronavirus discharge, some support the return to ‘ukuqhusheka,’ as families are able to save money on funeral costs, particularly when money is low. All these shifts point to one thing: that for now the rich traditions of life and death in South Africa are gone. These are the traditions which emphasize unity, exactly what the virus seems to thrive on.

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Data Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and  BBC