COVID-19: Over 10,000 Health Workers Infected – WHO

Not less than 10,000 health workers have been infected with the coronavirus across Africa, World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

The Organisation disclosed this today in a statement, but didn’t give a detailed breakdown of how the cases were distributed across the continent due to “limited information” from the 40 affected countries.

A preliminary data however released by the WHO reveals that health workers “make up more than 5% of cases in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa alone, and in four of these, health workers make up more than 10% of all infections”.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) today warned of the threat posed by COVID-19 to health workers across Africa. More than 10 000 health workers in the 40 countries which have reported on such infections have been infected with COVID-19 so far, a sign of the challenges medical staff on the frontlines of the outbreak face.),” the statement read.

Its said there are now 750,000 cases of COVID-19, and over 15,000 deaths.

It said some countries are approaching a critical number of infections that can place stress on health systems. South Africa is now among the worst-hit countries in the world.