Avoiding an imminent catastrophe from COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: The need to urgently prohibit mass gatherings

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak which first emanated from China in December, 2019 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020, and a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. As of June 20, 2020, over 8,687,231 people have been infected with 460,530 deaths recorded in 188 countries/regions, thereby posing a huge burden to healthcare systems globally. Mass gatherings (MGs) are a major risk factor for the widespread transmission of COVID-19. This has pushed many countries to enforce strict lock downs and restrictions of movement to curb the spread of the disease. Despite the continuous spike in confirmed cases around the globe, few countries are either not taking strict preventive measures or handling the pandemic with levity. Instead, there have been calls for the cessation of all forms of lock down and restrictions on movements and mass gatherings. The increasing COVID-19 spread across Africa demonstrates the role of mass gatherings in aggravation of the domain of the pandemic. As this pandemic continues to threaten public health and safety globally, essential precautions and mitigative measures remain supreme and must be strictly encouraged and enforced among African countries to combat this scourge.