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  • WORLD VIEW

Let Africa into the market for COVID-19 diagnostics

Africa is boosting its capacity to respond to COVID-19, but lack of solidarity will cost lives, warns Africa CDC head John Nkengasong.
By
  1. John Nkengasong

    1. John Nkengasong is the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The first case of COVID-19 in Africa was reported in Egypt on 14 February 2020. Since then, 52 countries in Africa have reported more than 30,000 cases and about 1,400 deaths from the new coronavirus. This count is likely to be an underestimate; Ethiopia has run about 11,000 tests — only 10 for every 100,000 people. Much-richer South Africa has run about 280 per 100,000. For Australia, the number is about 2,000; for the United States, 1,560.

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Nature 580, 565 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01265-0

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