More than 1 million coronavirus tests will be rolled out starting next week in Africa to address the “big gap” in assessing the true number of cases on the continent, the head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday, while one projection estimates more than 10 million severe cases of the virus in the next six months.
“Maybe 15 million tests” will be required in Africa over the next three months, John Nkengasong said.
The new initiative to dramatically accelerate testing comes as the continent of 1.3 billion people braces for its turn in the pandemic that has rolled from China to Europe and the US and now beyond. Experts have said Africa is weeks behind Europe and the U.S. but the rise in cases has looked alarmingly similar.
Africa has suffered in the global race to obtain testing kits and other badly needed medical equipment.
While the number of virus cases across the continent was above 17,000 on Thursday, health officials have said the testing shortage means more are out there.