The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC)
said on Thursday.
“Access to oxygen is becoming a huge critical need across
the continent,’’ said Africa CDC director John Nkengasong at an online press
briefing.
African countries urgently needed to establish international
partnerships to boost the supply of oxygen, similar to what was being done to
supply other medical equipment and medication to treat COVID-19 patients,
Nkengasong said.
In a separate briefing, the World Health Organisation’s
(WHO) regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, also warned that the
availability of sufficient oxygen is starting to be a challenge in some cases.
Africa has so far recorded roughly 3.3 million Coronavirus
cases and more than 81,800 related deaths.
Currently, the death rate from COVID-19 in Africa is 2.5 per
cent, higher than the global average of 2.2 per cent, said Nkengasong.
With around 1.3 million cases, South Africa is the nation
with the most infections on the continent.(dpa/NAN)