African health ministers launched a continental strategy to prevent the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in the continent.
In an emergency meeting on Saturday the ministers emphasized the need to strengthen preparedness response as the spread of COVID-19 sparks mounting fear in various continents with weak health systems.
“The increasing signs of transmission outside China show that the window of opportunity we have for containing this virus is narrowing,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom said in an urgent video conference held with African health officials in Addis Ababa.
“WHO has identified 13 priority African countries due to their link or volume of travel with China,” Tedros said urging African health officials to urgently invest in COVID-19.
He mentioned Egypt’s first confirmed case of the disease in Africa.
The WHO is worried over the pandemic, Adhanome said adding: “the virus could spread to countries with weaker health systems such as the African continent.”
He said that “although the total number of cases outside China remains relatively small”.
“We are concerned about the number of cases with no clear epidemiological link such as travel history to China or contact with the confirmed cases.”
He pointed out that the WHO are especially concerned about the increasing cases in Iran where 18 cases and 4 deaths were reported in the past two days.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was officially declared in January 2020, and since then the disease has been spreading very fast.
It has affected over 25 countries, in addition to China.
Last week Egypt reported the first case of the disease in Africa.
The African Union Commission has been engaging member states to learn and assess their preparedness for a possible outbreak.
The coronavirus has infected more than 78,000 people, including 2,345 deaths worldwide.
MG/as/APA