Emerg Microbes Infect COVID-19 Pandemic - An African Perspective

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Emerg Microbes Infect


. 2020 May 27;1-28.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1775132. Online ahead of print.
COVID-19 Pandemic - An African Perspective


Shabir Ahmad Lone ¹ , Aijaz Ahmad ^{1 2}



Affiliations

• PMID: 32458760
• DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1775132

Free article

Abstract

The recently emerged novel coronavirus, "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)", caused a highly contagious disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The virus was first reported from Wuhan city in China in December, 2019, which in less than three months spread throughout the globe and was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11^th of March, 2020. So far, the ongoing pandemic severely damaged the world's most developed countries and is becoming a major threat for low- and middle-income countries. The poorest continent, Africa with the most vulnerable populations to infectious diseases, is predicted to be significantly affected by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, in this review we collected and summarised the currently available literature on the epidemiology, etiology, vulnerability, preparedness and economic impact of COVID-19 in Africa, which could be useful and provide necessary information on ongoing COVID-19 pandemics in the continent. We also briefly summarised the concomitance of the COVID-19 pandemic and global warming.

Keywords: Africa; COVID-19; Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2.