COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus first emerged in Wuhan City, China as many of the people might already know. This virus spread throughout the world like a wildfire taking away the lives of millions in a matter of months and as there is no cure for this killer virus we must safeguard ourselves and our community by following the necessary precautions such as quarantining, maintaining a distance of 6 feet in public, sanitizing our hands and most importantly a mask to reduce the spread. Living in countries such as the US we don’t have to worry about things like a safe place to stay, medication refills & groceries for those who are self-quarantining for 14 days. But when it comes to countries in Africa or any other country which is economically weak, they are incapable of having this type of essentials. 60% of the African population is dependent on agriculture and farming as that’s their only source of income, making them stay home during this pandemic could prove problematic for families
News channels such as BBC, The Guardian and Economist have recently revealed that countries in Africa are running out of COVID-19 testing kits and ventilators, this is something we have as a nation as gone through in the initial stages of the spread and we’ve also seen the impact it did due to the same reason; exponential increase in the number of cases causing more deaths. Imperial College Of London recently estimated that “Even in the best-case scenario, about 300,000 people on the African continent are likely to die”. As of right now, the number of cases on the African continent reached 652,562 and growing, causing a total of 13,763 deaths. Although we haven’t discovered a vaccine or a cure to stop this virus, all we can do is help prevent more spread across the continent, by helping them get the required testing kits & other medical protective equipment for healthcare professionals, a well-known organization called Amref Health Africa is the largest Africa-based non-profit healthcare organization serving 35 countries with the needed equipment such as testing kits, etc around the continent during this time of the pandemic through donations. Doing these little things could mean a lot for people in need, so try helping these countries before the spread becomes worse and finally comes down to a situation where they have to live with this virus on top of many other pre-existing infectious diseases.
