Mixed mitigation measures must be put in place to avoid a second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the continent, says Doctor Mary Stephen, Technical officer World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo.
Stephen was speaking to SABC News following a warning by the World Health Organization (WHO) that Africa is experiencing a resurgence in COVID-19 infections as countries relax their restrictions.
The mitigation measures include the general population complying with the preventive measures of wearing the face masks, keeping social distancing, regular hand washing, and avoiding mass gatherings.
According to the WHO Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti, the number of new daily confirmed cases overall has started rising after slowing since mid-July, with a “substantial rise in deaths” confirmed over the past week.
Stephen says, “With regards to the fear for the increase in the number of COVID cases, people are looking at what is happening in Europe and the United States and as you can see as they lifted restrictions on international travel and some of those lockdown measures to reopen the economy. You can see the increase in the number of cases and every country is actually at risk including all countries in Africa. So we need to make sure that we put in mixed mitigation measures in place to avoid a second wave of the outbreak on the continent.”
In the video below, Dr. Mary Stephen speaks to SABC News:
