Coronavirus around the world: numbers, vaccines and untold stories

Numbers at a glance:

• 47 countries affected
• 5.8 million cumulative cases
• Over 142,000 deaths

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has observed a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases over the last two months across the region, however this decline has taken place more slowly than in previous waves due to the persistent effects of Covid variants.

According to the Lancet in May 2021, Covid-19 was the twelfth leading cause of death worldwide, the sixth leading cause of death in high-income countries, and the 41st leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the reasons why the numbers of cases and deaths were lower in sub-Saharan Africa were unclear. One possibility is that there are inadequate levels of testing, which could translate to unreported Covid-19 deaths. Another possibility is that the continent acted quickly. Among fears that the new virus could quickly overwhelm generally fragile health systems, governments took drastic measures to slow the virus. According to experts, the age of the population in most African countries is also likely to have played a role in suppressing the spread of Covid-19. Globally, most of those who have died have been aged over 80, while Africa is home to the world's youngest population with an average age of 19 years.

Between May and July, the spread of new coronavirus variants in Africa had been contributing to an increase in both cases and deaths across the continent. A mix of public fatigue, socialising, ineffective use of public health and social measures, and vaccine inequity, as well as the spread of new variants are said to be all potential contributors to this rise. At least 12 countries have so far confirmed the presence of the variant first detected in India late last year. There is concern that new variants can't easily be tracked because the testing required to identify them isn't widely available.

The continent is also falling behind with vaccination. In September, the World Health Organization (WHO) says a target of fully vaccinating 10% of all people in Africa by the end of the month won't be achieved unless supplies improve.

Only around 3% of Africa's population is fully vaccinated, compared with around 54% in the US and 65% in the UK.

Numbers at a glance:

• 74,211,000 reported infections
• 1,099,000 reported deaths

Last year, the situation in Asia looked promising. While Western Europe and North America experienced surges of infection and death and lockdowns, many Asian countries were praised for protecting their populations from the worst of the pandemic. However, more recently the situation has begun to change. As India battled a major coronavirus wave, there was concern about rising infection levels in neighbouring countries. Bangladesh saw case numbers rising from early March, and brought in a national lockdown on 5 April. They have now seen a decline in cases, however the South African variant has also been reported.

According to Reuters, there have been at least 74,211,000 reported infections and 1,099,000 reported deaths caused by Covid-19 in Asia and the Middle East so far. Of every 100 infections last reported around the world, about 50 were reported from countries in Asia and the Middle East. The region is currently reporting a million new infections about every eight days and has reported more than 55,576,000 since the pandemic began.

Haiti has one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates in the world. Since January 3 2020 and 20 September 2021, there have been 21,368 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 603 deaths, reported to WHO in Haiti.

There are a number of speculations as to why the death rate is so low in Haiti, particularly considering it is one of the world’s poorest countries. One theory is that Haiti is a young country, with an average age of 23, and the virus tends to affect older people more severely. Additionally, houses in Haiti tend to be open with good ventilation.

• In South Sudan, we set up over 1,200 handwashing stations in key locations, provided over 14,134 people with soap and sanitiser, and ensured over 49,000 people had improved access to water as part of our Covid-19 response.
• In the Central African Republic, we worked with 75 health centres to train staff in Covid-19 infection control and response.
• In Chad, we implemented mass awareness campaigns to prevent and limit the spread of Covid-19 through a number of means, including local radio. We also provided practical assistance to prevent transmission of the virus, including strengthening access to protective equipment for health workers, rehabilitating boreholes to increase access to water for 10,000 IDPs, and distributing water, sanitation and hygiene kits to 5,000 vulnerable households.

Read more about our response in Africa here.

• Our work in Iraq focussed specifically on supporting preventive measures for over 200,000 people living in camps in northern Iraq. With support from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), we produced Covid-19 hygiene kits, distributing bars of soap, detergent and sanitary products to 84,500 individuals.
• We installed handwashing stations across our areas of intervention in northern Afghanistan, where our network of community development facilitators conducted hygiene awareness campaigns specifically tailored to Covid-19.
• We built cutting-edge digital booths in Bangladesh to help increase the country’s capacity to test and screen people for coronavirus.

Read more about our response in the Middle East and Asia here.

In Haiti, we supplied soap and provided money and training for unemployed people to make their own soap to use and sell in Cité Soleil, Haiti’s largest slum. This initiative helped vulnerable community members to make an income, and protect themselves against Covid-19.

We remain focussed on maintaining our existing programmes, raising awareness of the tools used to fight the spread of the infection and supporting the communities most impacted by the crisis.