As coronavirus continues to bring world powers to their knees, the fact remains that the continuous surge in infections and number of deaths has something to do with either lack of awareness, preparedness or negligence in most instances. Beyond individual countries, it is evident that for those currently suffering repercussion of Covid-19 a great deal have initially ignored to communicate and collaborate well with the countries where the virus was first reported like China. This has resulted into hospitals being overwhelmed by thousands of patients that cannot be supported by available infrastructure and health workers. As a result, deaths began to be recorded in their thousands on daily basis and in countries like Italy and most recently Spain, burial activities were assigned to soldiers, locking out loved ones for fear of getting infected. It’s not an easy call but this outbreak can be defeated if our countries put their acts together now. To achieve this monumental task require an unprecedented level of diligence in response, driven by global and regional approach with solidarity and collaboration built on evidence-based information if we are to avoid more rapid spread of the carnage that the virus has caused mainly in Europe and America. For Africa and African regions in particular, there can never be a better time to learn from what is happening elsewhere to ensure this does not occur here. I don’t know if I should say that we were lucky because Covid-19 outbreak did not originate from Africa but that’s the sad reality. Imagine if what is currently happening in Italy, where daily deaths toll now mainly stands at 1000+ people and new infections surging to tens of thousands, starts to happen in some African countries. Remember Italy was until this outbreak among countries with the most efficient and effective health systems in the world, probably one of the countries with best doctor-per-patient ratios. Compare that to majority of African nations with an average of one doctor serving at least 30,000 patients. One might look at the number of confirmed cases among regional countries and think that it’s just a small number that can easily be dealt with. To put things in perspective, I will pick two examples of countries that a fortnight or so ago were in the same situation with the likes of Rwanda, Kenya etc are today. On 21st February 2020, Italy had recorded only 21 cases of Covid-19 but as of 27 March, 2020, the number of infected patients had surged to 111,000 and over 13,000 deaths in the same period. The same day, the United States had recorded only 16 cases but as of April 6 2020, the number had shot up to 339,000 and 96,000 deaths recorded in process. These are countries renowned for having long history of medical excellence who have greatly been pushed to the limit. This means that we are exactly where the likes of the US and Italy were only a month ago and being in the same turmoil they are in now is a matter of weeks if we don’t make the right choices. Imagine if now becomes the similar scenario with our region where even hospital beds are not enough on a normal day of operation. Our countries can only achieve that by breaking the chain of transmission and it’s doable. For the continent to overcome this pandemic, African leaders have to read from the same script. Continental and regional collaboration is needed like never before. The East African region You have countries like Rwanda imposing total lockdown, Kenya and Uganda announcing partial lockdown then Tanzania where leaders declares that their government will not close down places of worship because that is where true healing from Covid-19 can be found since this is a satanic virus. Forgetting that even in Vatican and Canterbury Christians no longer congregate for prayers to avoid further spread of Coronavirus. Meanwhile Uganda has taken opportunity of the virus outbreak to settle their score with Rwanda, by using state-sponsored media to make declarations that Rwanda is sending nationals to Uganda to spread the virus. Then land-locked Burundi decides to seal off its borders with Rwanda, denying cargo trucks transporting essential commodities to cross, simply because they have a bone to pick with Rwanda. With this kind of attitude and politicizing of the response to this global pandemic, it is going to be almost impossible for African countries to defeat this deadly invisible enemy. The main action for the region now is to avoid human-to-human transmission. It’s the only therapy in flattening the curve of contagion. This can only be achieved if countries put in place collective measures that will contain this virus from spreading further. Countries have a responsibility to be transparent in their reporting and actions, both to their own populations and to the regional and international community so as to facilitate and accelerate cooperation that will ultimately curtail the outbreak. It would be of paramount importance to establish a regional taskforce for Coronavirus Preparedness and Response with important financial and Human Resources for the implementation of preventive measures among them screening of passengers at points of entry. Otherwise the potential social, economic, and security devastation that COVID-19 could cause in Africa should be enough of an incentive for governments to invest immediately in preparedness for the worst-case scenario. Beyond that, the region must also think about the need to remove tariffs on key medical devices such as ventilators, personal protective equipment, gloves, surgical masks, coveralls to ease their accessibility. As it stands, there is no vaccine, medicine or therapy to cure this disease, it’s just the behavioral practices that will help countries contain this pandemic. Since there’s still all these knowledge gaps that still need to be filled in finding a lasting solution, the only way to deal with this pandemic is to minimize its spread. As we all know, the virus doesn’t move, people move it, we stop moving, then the virus does and it eventually dies a natural death. We may be dealing with a disaster but if proper precautionary and proactive measures not taken this might turn out to be hurricane of a disaster and soon the situation will get out of hands. Going forward, African countries need to invest reasonably in scientific research and medical infrastructure and embrace partnerships at the regional, continental and global levels to deal with any other possible outbreaks. The writer is a Communications and Media Relations Consultant based in Kigali
