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 Earlier in the pandemic, Africa's rate had been below the global
average, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
head John Nkengasong told reporters.
"The case fatality rate is beginning to be very worrying and
concerning for all of us," he said, without giving a reason for the
increase.
The number of African nations with a rate of deaths-per-cases higher
than the global average is growing, he added. There are 21 countries
on the continent with a rate above 3%, including Egypt, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan.
The initially lower case fatality level in Africa may have been due
to lower testing rates and a youthful population, experts said last
year.
Despite Nkengasong's concern, the World Health Organisation's Africa
head Matshidiso Moeti told an online news conference that Africa’s
case fatality rate was not dramatically worse than other regions.
She said higher rates were probably due to the challenges African
countries most severely affected by the second wave – notably South
Africa where a more infectious variant has been detected – were
facing in providing care for infected people.
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 Over the past week, cases
around the continent decreased by nearly 7%
compared to the previous week while deaths
increased 10%, according to Africa CDC data.
With a population of more than 1.3 billion,
Africa has recorded 81,000 COVID-19 deaths,
representing 4% of fatalities globally from the
coronavirus, Nkengasong told reporters.
Africa has recorded 3.3 million infections in
total.
The continent reported 207,000 new cases in the
past week, with South Africa alone reporting
100,000 of those, Nkengasong said.
(Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; Writing by
Maggie Fick; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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