COVID-19: Lockdown no longer necessary to contain -Africa CDC

The Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong says severe lockdowns were no longer necessary to contain COVID-19, on Thursday while speaking at a news conference.

According to Africa’s top public health agency, African countries battling the fourth wave of the COVID-19 infection fuelled by the Omicron variant should adopt a new approach to tackle the ongoing pandemic.

Nkengasong praised South Africa for adopting a new approach in responding to its latest infection wave driven by the Omicron variant.

“We are very encouraged with what we saw in South Africa during this period where they look at the data in terms of severity (of infections).

“The period where we are using severe lockdowns as a tool is over. We should actually be looking at how we use public health and social measures more carefully and in a balanced way as the vaccination increases),” he said

Recall that South Africa recorded a surge in COVID-19 cases from late November to early December, a period that coincides with the discovery of the Omicron variant that was first discovered in the nation.

The spike in COVID-19 infections in South Africa peaked in mid-December though cases have since reduced.

The Director of the Africa CDC, however, warned that COVID-19 could become an endemic infection with the slow pace of vaccination in the continent.

He said, “Unless … by the end of this year the continent actually scales up its vaccination to above 70 per cent or 80 per cent, my worry is that we might … be into a scenario where COVID becomes endemic”.

According to the latest figures from the Africa CDC, Less than 10 per cent of Africa’s population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Many of the countries in Africa struggled throughout 2021 to access COVID-19 vaccines, though supply has since improved around the continent.

Okwuego/PHW