Africa to receive coronavirus tests ‘within weeks’

Countries across sub-Saharan Africa will be able to tests for the deadly coronavirus “within a couple of weeks”, according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti.

Dr Moeti told reporters that 33 nations now had such facilities, whereas a month ago only Senegal and South Africa did. 

“We expect in the next couple of weeks that all 47 of our member states will have the facilities to diagnose this virus," she said.

The worst case scenario, according to Dr Moeti, would be if the virus rapidly spread to African cities which had no facilities to contain and treat people.

So far only two cases of the virus have been confirmed in the sub-Saharan region: one in Senegal and the other in Nigeria. This brings the total number of cases reported on the continent to nine. 

Photo: Reuters