Six out of seven Covid-19 infections go undetected in Africa, showing that the impact of the disease on the world's least vaccinated continent is likely underestimated, according to the World Health Organization.
To date 8.4 million cases have been confirmed in Africa, or 3.5% of the global total, even though the continent accounts for about a sixth of the world's population.
By Oct. 10 only 70 million tests had been carried out in Africa, compared with 550 million in the U.S., WHO said.
The organization will start a community screening project on eight countries to reach seven million people over the next year, it said.
“With limited testing, we're still flying blind in far too many communities in Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director for Africa, said in a statement. “Most tests are carried out on people with symptoms, but much of the transmission is driven by asymptomatic people.”
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