Abstract:
ince the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, there have been
nearly 6,663,304 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 392,802 deaths, worldwide as of 10:00 CEST 06
June 2020. In Africa, 152,442 COVID-19 cases and 4334 deaths have been reported as of 02 June 2020. The
five countries with the highest commutative number of cases in Africa are South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria,
Algeria, and Ghana. Africa, and the rest of world, has had to swiftly undertake the necessary measures to
protect the continent from irreversible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that is claiming lives and
destroying livelihoods. The lower number of COVID-19 cases in most African countries is attributed to
inadequate health systems, low-to-absent testing capacity, poor reporting systems, and insufficient
numbers of medical staff. The COVID-19 pandemic poses a great threat to most African countries, from
cities to rural areas, and has created a strong demand on already scarce resources. Intense mobilization of
additional resources is required to implement established emergency contingency measures. Measures
to prevent the spread of COVID-19 include closure of borders and restricting movement of people within
a country; this has resulted in the tourism sector being adversely affected by the loss of income.
Cooperative prevention and control measures are one of the promising solutions to deplete the spread of
COVID-19 on the continent.
