Africa's 4th wave of COVID-19 pandemic flattening: WHO - China.org.cn

After a six-week surge, Africa's fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic driven primarily by the Omicron variant, is flattening, marking the shortest-lived surge to date in the continent where cumulative cases have now exceeded 10 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

Weekly cases having plateaued in the week ending on January 9, said a statement of WHO's regional office for Africa. It said that Southern Africa, which saw a huge increase in infections during the pandemic wave, recorded a 14 percent decline in infections over the past week, with South Africa, where Omicron was first reported, recording a 9 percent fall in weekly infections.

North and West Africa, however, are witnessing a rise in cases, with North Africa reporting a 121 percent increase this past week compared with the previous one, warned the WHO.

Across the continent, though, deaths rose by 64 percent in the seven days ending on January 9 compared with the week before mainly due to infections among people at high-risk. Nonetheless, deaths in the fourth wave on the African continent are lower than in the previous waves.

So far 30 African countries have detected the Omicron variant, while the Delta variant has been reported in 42 African countries.