With new COVID-19 cases significantly dropping, many countries are increasingly curtailing surveillance and quarantine measures.
While the need to reopen economies and social activities is important, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged consideration of accompanying risks.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, at a virtual press conference, said: “It is a matter of concern that nearly half of all countries in Africa have stopped tracing the contacts of cases. This, along with robust testing, is the backbone of any pandemic response. Without this critical information, it is difficult to track the spread of the virus and identify new COVID-19 hotspots that may be caused by known or emerging variants.”
She was joined by Chief Director for Tuberculosis Control and Management, South Africa, Dr. Norbert Ndjeka and Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa.
Also present are Coordinator, Immunisation and Vaccines Development Programme, Dr. Richard Mihigo, Regional COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr.
Thierno Balde and TB Medical officer, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr. Michel Gasana.
WHO, in a statement said contact tracing “is a key strategy for curbing the spread of the virus and reducing mortality.
In August 2020, 23 out of the 54 nations on the continent were conducting comprehensive contact tracing, which entailed listing and following contacts of a confirmed case.
With the evolution of the pandemic, countries have moved towards prioritised contact tracing, where only contacts at high risk of infection or falling severely ill are followed. Based on analysis of open-source data, WHO found that by March 15, 2022, 13 countries were conducting comprehensive surveillance, while 19 others were carrying out prioritised contact tracing.
Twenty-two African countries were no longer carrying out any kind of contact tracing.
Aside contact tracing, testing remains a critical surveillance strategy. The WHO benchmark for nations with a good testing rate is 10 tests per 10,000 population weekly. In the first quarter of 2022, only 27 per cent of countries were achieving this weekly target, indicating a disturbing decrease in testing rates compared with 2021 when 40 per cent of countries hit the benchmark.
