The African Union (AU) through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) continues to lead the continent in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic.

Since its outbreak, the viral infection has affected economies and millions of families, leading to a change in the customary way of living life. With several member states left dealing with the disease, the Africa CDC has continued to lead the fight against the pandemic by supporting several governments in several ways, including through the acquisition and distribution of vaccines.

To date, the highly contagious variants of the coronavirus continue to spread across the continent. As of September 23^rd, 8.1 million cases had been reported in the different member states, accounting for 3.6 percent of the COVID-19 cases reported globally.

"The continent is still going through a severe third wave. 78 per cent of our member states are currently going through the third wave. And of these, 32 are experiencing a severe third wave. Seven countries, including Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia, and Tunisia, are currently experiencing the fourth wave. Of that number, four of them are going through a fourth wave”, said the director of the Africa CDC, Dr. John Nkengasong.

However, the Africa CDC is encouraged by the recent downward trend in the number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases registered across the region.

"Between the period of September 13-19, a total of 104,000 new cases were reported across the continent, and this represents a 22 percent decrease in the number of new cases reported during that period compared to the previous week."

"If you look at the four-week period between August 30 and September 19, we observed a 19 percent average decrease in new cases reported during this period. We continue to be encouraged by the progress we are seeing in several countries as they move towards full vaccination”, said Dr Nkengasong.

For further information please contact:

Mrs Wynne Musabayana, Head of Communication. Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission | E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union,org | www.au.int|Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission,   E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Website: www.au.africa I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube