COVID-19 Pandemic In Africa Research Articles

Prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 in Africa: umbrella review of existing meta-analyses.

In Africa, healthcare professionals experienced various mental health problems during COVID-19. However, very little was done on the extensive evidence regarding mental disorders. The purpose of this umbrella review is to provide comprehensive data on the prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Systematic searches of databases African Journals Online, MedRxiv, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used to identify studies from the occurrence of COVID-19 from December 2019 to March 2023 were included. To pool the gathered data for results with a 95% confidence interval (CI), DerSimonian-Laird random effects meta-analysis was used. For heterogeneity examination, I2 was used. The quality assessment was evaluated by using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist. A total of five studies reported the prevalence of depression, the pooled prevalence was 53.75% (95% CI [40.80-66.70], I2 = 63.6%, p=0.027). In a total of four studies, the pooled prevalence of anxiety was 49.97% (95% CI [34.71-65.23], I2 = 71.26%, p=0.014). From a total of two studies, the pooled prevalence of stress was 57.27% (95% CI [42.28-72.25], I2 = 58.9%, p=0.119). From a total of four studies, the pooled prevalence of insomnia was 45.16% (95% CI [32.94-57.39], I2 = 50.8%, p=0.107). The COVID-19 pandemic highly affects the mental health of healthcare professionals in Africa. Stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms were representing the most common based on evidences from existing meta-analyses. This evidence can help experts when executing specific interventions that address mental health problems among healthcare professionals during future public health crises.

Factors associated with poor perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa

This study examines factors associated with an increasingly poor perception of the novel coronavirus in Africa using a designed electronic questionnaire to collect perception-based information from participants across Africa from twenty-one African countries (and from all five regions of Africa) between 1 and 25 February 2022. The study received 66.7% of responses from West Africa, 12.7% from Central Africa, 4.6% from Southern Africa, 15% from East Africa, and 1% from North Africa. The majority of the participants are Nigerians (56%), 14.1% are Cameroonians, 8.7% are Ghanaians, 9.3% are Kenyans, 2% are South Africans, 2.1% are DR-Congolese, 1.6% are Tanzanians, 1.2% are Rwandans, 0.4% are Burundians, and others are Botswana’s, Chadians, Comoros, Congolese, Gambians, Malawians, South Sudanese, Sierra Leoneans, Ugandans, Zambians, and Zimbabweans. All responses were coded on a five-point Likert scale. The study adopts descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and binary logistic regression analysis for the data analysis. The descriptive analysis of the study shows that the level of ignorance or poor “perception” of COVID-19 in Africa is very high (87% of individuals sampled). It leads to skepticism towards complying with preventive measures as advised by the WHO and directed by the national government across Africa. We adopted logistic regression analysis to identify the factors associated with a poor perception of the virus in Africa. The study finds that religion (belief or faith) and media misinformation are the two leading significant causes of ignorance or poor “perception” of COVID-19 in Africa, with log odd of 0.4775 (resulting in 1.6120 odd ratios) and 1.3155 (resulting in 3.7265 odd ratios), respectively. The study concludes that if the poor attitude or perception towards complying with the preventive measures continues, COVID-19 cases in Africa may increase beyond the current spread.

Procuring for Pandemics through Joint Procurement Association in the European Union: Lessons for the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community

ABSTRACT Procuring for the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa has been devastating. The virus resulted in an unprecedented surge in demand for medicines, medical equipment, and relevant technologies, making individual country orders for health supplies impossible and requiring creating the need for an interstate pooled strategy. This article examines the working of Joint Procurement Association (JPA), an interstate pooled sourcing strategy in the European Union (EU) and to draw lessons for regional blocs like the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC). This article indicates that while the EU has implemented and enjoyed JPA, regional blocs like the SADC and EAC have not and could be missing on the benefits provided by JPAs. The article concludes that while JPAs have not been adopted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), they possess the potential to improve access to medical drugs equipment and technologies in pandemic times. To implement JPAs, political will, legal and regulatory frameworks, and governance structures are required. The outcome of the article is important to SADC and EAC Secretariats since the understanding and implementation of JPAs can enable member states whose budgets are stressed to derive economies of scale.

Re-reading the Parable of the Good Samaritan in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: A Narrative Paradigm

The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) is one of the most illustrious stories on human relations among the teachings of Jesus Christ. One of the critical questions among scholars is whether the parable should be understood as a mere story of loving a neighbour offering empathy and kindness to people in need, or as an allegory. This study interrogates the parable of the Good Samaritan as an allegory about the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. On that basis, the Priest and Levite may refer to the government; Jericho may represent the world; thieves represent the hostile forces of the world in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic; the Samaritan represents Jesus Christ, and the Inn represents the Church. The study argues that while the moral aspect of good neighborliness is emphasized in the parable, the parable may also be viewed as an allegory considered related to the experiences of people under the coronavirus disease. The study also utilized the narrative perspective as a theoretical framework to cross-examine the parable of the Good Samaritan in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study concluded that the discourses on the parable of the Good Samaritan remind people to love everyone, including their enemies, even in the context of health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic where for the most part, others were shunned in an egocentric manner.

Addressing Inequality in the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: A Snapshot from Clinical Symptoms to Vaccine Distribution

On 30 January 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of global concern. COVID-19 became pandemic on 11 March 2020, and spread unprecedently. No country was prepared to face its impact. Major fears started to be expressed for Africa, where dramatic consequences were expected, due to the weakness of health systems. In this review, we related major concerns, at that time but still present, regarding the limited resources in terms of qualified physicians and researchers, as well as the scarce funds to purchase essential medical equipment and improve hospital infrastructures. The difficulties to provide proper care became an undeniable mark of inequality, highlighting the need to empower local capacity and raise preparedness against infection outbreaks. The transmissibility of genetic variants affecting African nations, the immunopathology underlying comorbidities, sequelae, and pre-existing conditions, often related to changes in iron metabolism and enhancing COVID-19 severity, were described. The obstacles in adopting standardized prevention measures were highlighted, along with testing capacity biases and inequity of healthcare access and vaccine distribution. By providing a better understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, we draw attention to the need for collaborative efforts to leverage the quality of healthcare and research in this continent.

Immunological insights into COVID-19 in Southern Nigeria.

One of the unexpected outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic was the relatively low levels of morbidity and mortality in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, accounted for less than 0.01% of the global COVID-19 fatalities. The factors responsible for Nigeria's relatively low loss of life due to COVID-19 are unknown. Also, the correlates of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and the impact of pre-existing immunity on the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa are yet to be elucidated. Here, we evaluated the natural and vaccine-induced immune responses from vaccinated, non-vaccinated and convalescent individuals in Southern Nigeria throughout the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. We also examined the pre-existing immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 from samples collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We used spike RBD and N- IgG antibody ELISA to measure binding antibody responses, SARS-CoV-2 pseudotype assay protocol expressing the spike protein of different variants (D614G, Delta, Beta, Omicron BA1) to measure neutralizing antibody responses and nucleoprotein (N) and spike (S1, S2) direct ex vivo interferon gamma (IFNγ) T cell ELISpot to measure T cell responses. Our study demonstrated a similar magnitude of both binding (N-IgG (74% and 62%), S-RBD IgG (70% and 53%) and neutralizing (D614G (49% and 29%), Delta (56% and 47%), Beta (48% and 24%), Omicron BA1 (41% and 21%)) antibody responses from symptomatic and asymptomatic survivors in Nigeria. A similar magnitude was also seen among vaccinated participants. Interestingly, we revealed the presence of preexisting binding antibodies (N-IgG (60%) and S-RBD IgG (44%)) but no neutralizing antibodies from samples collected prior to the pandemic. These findings revealed that both vaccinated, non-vaccinated and convalescent individuals in Southern Nigeria make similar magnitude of both binding and cross-reactive neutralizing antibody responses. It supported the presence of preexisting binding antibody responses among some Nigerians prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, hybrid immunity and heterologous vaccine boosting induced the strongest binding and broadly neutralizing antibody responses compared to vaccine or infection-acquired immunity alone.

Socioeconomic shocks, social protection and household food security amidst COVID-19 pandemic in Africa's largest economy.

Africa has been known to experience series of problems among which are poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to energy, lack of infrastructure among others. These problems were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a severe impact on the socioeconomic status of households in Africa. This paper examines the relationship between socioeconomic shocks, social protection, and household food security during the pandemic in Nigeria, the Africa's largest economy. Using the World Bank's COVID-19 national longitudinal baseline phone survey (2020) for the analysis and applied the multinomial logit regression, the study finds that socioeconomic shocks resulting from the pandemic have led to an increased level of food insecurity. Social protection programmes have played a crucial role in mitigating the impact of these shocks on households. However, the study also highlights the need for more targeted and effective social protection policies to ensure that vulnerable households are adequately protected from the adverse effects of the pandemic. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers and stakeholders in Africa's largest economy, as they seek to address the challenges posed by the pandemic and promote household food security for the actualisation the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of food and nutrition security (SDG2). The study, therefore, recommends that efforts be made to preserve food supply chains by mitigating the pandemic's effect on food systems, increasing food production, and looking forward beyond the pandemic by building resilient food systems with the use of social protection interventions.

Dissecting the low morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: a critical review of the facts and fallacies

Dissecting the low morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: a critical review of the facts and fallacies

CLINICAL PROFILES AND OUTCOMES OF ADMISSIONS FOLLOWING COVID-19 ADMISSIONS DURING THREE WAVES OF THE PANDEMIC: EXPERIENCE OF A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA.

South Africa was the country worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa. There is a paucity of data on the clinical characteristics and mortality of Covid-19 from the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. We report on the demographic and clinical characteristics as well as the mortality of patients admitted to the Covid-19 ward of Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital (NMAH), Mthatha, during three waves of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. We conducted a single centre retrospective observational study of patients admitted for Covid-19 in a tertiary hospital in the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa. Data were collected from patient files, electronic databases and the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) database. The outcomes were duration of admission and in-hospital mortality. There were 371 patients admitted across all three waves with a mean age of 52.2 ± 16.3 years. The proportion of females across the three waves is 61.2%. The commonly associated comorbidities, irrespective of the wave, were hypertension, diabetes and HIV infection. The median duration of admission was six days, with an overall mortality of 31%. The mortality for first, second and third wave were 29.3%, 31.5% and 37.9% respectively. Admissions for Covid-19 were predominantly in females and middle-aged. One third of the admitted patients died. Diabetes, hypertension and HIV infection were the most commonly associated comorbidities.

Interest Groups and COVID-19 in Africa(2019-2022).

The study highlights the crucial roles played by interest groups in shaping the definition and redefinition of policy issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. The study focused on selected countries to discuss strategies that were deployed to combat the COVID quandary. The selected countries are Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, and Tunisia. A purely qualitative research, it relied on existing literature sources to produce thematic analysis which explore the various strategies adopted by interest groups in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. The study revealed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the already fragile healthcare system in Africa. Again, it revealed the innovative approaches such as herbal medicine and local production of ventilators developed by African countries to tackle COVID-19 including efforts of other interests groups like government agencies, private institutions and international organizations in the fight against COVID-19 in Africa.

Nationwide retrospective mortality and seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Cameroon

BackgroundAlthough the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa did not produce the expected catastrophe, the true impact of COVID-19 in the Cameroonian population was unclear. We therefore assessed the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and retrospective mortality in a representative sample of the general population in the 10 administrative regions of Cameroon more than one year after the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in these regions. We aimed to assess the extent of SARS-COV-2 infection and to detect potential increases in the crude mortality rate (CMR) during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic phase. MethodsWe assessed retrospective mortality and seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the 10 capital cities of Cameroon using representative samples of the general population. The study included nested anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence surveys and retrospective mortality surveys and was conducted between 27 July 2021 and 31 August 2021. To further analyze crude mortality rates by age group and COVID wave, pre-pandemic and pandemic periods were stratified. Both laboratory-based assays (ELFA) and rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) were used to measure anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence. ResultsThe crude mortality rate (CMR) increased from 0.06 deaths per 10 000 persons per day (pre-pandemic) to 0.17 deaths per 10 000 persons per day (pandemic). The increase in CMR was more pronounced in people aged 20–35 years (pre-pandemic 0.02 deaths per 10 000 persons per day; pandemic 0.06 deaths per 10 000 persons per day). The estimated seroprevalence among unvaccinated persons was 9.5 % (RDT) and 15.4 % (laboratory-based). ConclusionThe seroprevalence results showed that cases were significantly underdetected by the national surveillance systems.

Estimation of epidemiological parameters and ascertainment rate from early transmission of COVID-19 across Africa.

Country reported case counts suggested a slow spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Owing to inadequate public awareness, unestablished monitoring practices, limited testing and stigmas, there might exist extensive under-ascertainment of the true number of cases, especially at the beginning of the novel epidemic. We developed a compartmentalized epidemiological model to track the early epidemics in 54 African countries. Data on the reported cumulative number of cases and daily confirmed cases were used to fit the model for the time period with no or little massive national interventions yet in each country. We estimated that the mean basic reproduction number is 2.02 (s.d. 0.7), with a range between 1.12 (Zambia) and 3.64 (Nigeria). The mean overall report rate was estimated to be 5.37% (s.d. 5.71%), with the highest 30.41% in Libya and the lowest 0.02% in São Tomé and Príncipe. An average of 5.46% (s.d. 6.4%) of all infected cases were severe cases and 66.74% (s.d. 17.28%) were asymptomatic ones. The estimated low reporting rates in Africa suggested a clear need for improved reporting and surveillance systems in these countries.

Off-label drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: topic modelling and sentiment analysis of ivermectin in South Africa and Nigeria as a case study.

Although rejected by the World Health Organization, the human and even veterinary formulation of ivermectin has widely been used for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. In this work we leverage Twitter to understand the reasons for the drug use from ivermectin supporters, their source of information, their emotions, their gender demographics, and location information, in Nigeria and South Africa. Topic modelling is performed on a Twitter dataset gathered using keywords 'ivermectin' and 'ivm'. A model is fine-tuned on RoBERTa to find the stance of the tweets. Statistical analysis is performed to compare the stance and emotions. Most ivermectin supporters either redistribute conspiracy theories posted by influencers, or refer to flawed studies confirming ivermectin efficacy in vitro. Three emotions have the highest intensity, optimism, joy and disgust. The number of anti-ivermectin tweets has a significant positive correlation with vaccination rate. All the provinces in South Africa and most of the provinces of Nigeria are pro-ivermectin and have higher disgust polarity. This work makes the effort to understand public discussions regarding ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic to help policy-makers understand the rationale behind its popularity, and inform more targeted policies to discourage self-administration of ivermectin. Moreover, it is a lesson to future outbreaks.

Factors shaping responsiveness towards sexual gender-based violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: A systematic review

Factors shaping responsiveness towards sexual gender-based violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: A systematic review

Role of Social Networks in Crowdfunding Performance During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult for entrepreneurs to obtain capital finance from banks. As a result of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, entrepreneurs found alternative means of obtaining capital finance in the form of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding has the potential to help entrepreneurs get access to finance. The prevalence of crowdfunding campaigns in Africa is relatively low compared to most developed economies around the world. The objective of the study was to determine the role of social networks on crowdfunding performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. A total of 859 crowdfunding projects in Africa were analysed in the study. The ordinary least squares (OLS) and probit models were estimated in the analysis. The duration, comments, and target amount variables were found to be negatively and significantly associated with crowdfunding success in Africa. Conversely, the presence of videos, updates and backer’s variables were positively and significantly associated with the success of crowdfunding campaigns. The study contributes to new knowledge by revealing the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of social networks on crowdfunding performance in Africa. Furthermore, the study makes a policy recommendation to African governments on the need to craft policy instruments that will foster the development of crowdfunding sources which will ultimately mitigate the problem of credit rationing by banks which curtail the growth of entrepreneurs.

Critical Insights in Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa

Critical Insights in Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa

Interest of seroprevalence surveys for the epidemiological surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in African populations: Insights from the ARIACOV project in Benin.

Many SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys since the end of 2020 have disqualified the first misconception that Africa had been spared by the pandemic. Through the analysis of three SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys carried out in Benin as part of the ARIACOV project, we argue that the integration of epidemiological serosurveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the national surveillance packages would be of great use to refine the understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. We carried out three repeated cross-sectional surveys in Benin: two in Cotonou, the economic capital in March and May 2021, and one in Natitingou, a semi-rural city in the north of the country in August 2021. Total and weighted-by-age-group seroprevalences were estimated and the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection were assessed by multivariate logistic regression. In Cotonou, a slight increase in overall age-standardised SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence from 29.77% (95% CI: 23.12%-37.41%) at the first survey to 34.86% (95% CI: 31.57%-38.30%) at the second survey was observed. In Natitingou, the globally adjusted seroprevalence was 33.34% (95% CI: 27.75%-39.44%). A trend of high risk for SARS-CoV 2 seropositivity was observed in adults over 40 versus the young (less than 18 years old) during the first survey in Cotonou but no longer in the second survey. Our results show that, however, rapid organisation of preventive measures aimed at breaking the chains of transmission, they were ultimately unable to prevent a wide spread of the virus in the population. Routine serological surveillance on strategic sentinel sites and/or populations could constitute a cost-effective compromise to better anticipate the onset of new waves and define public health strategies.

Re-Emergence of Monkeypox Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: What is the Fate of the African Healthcare System?

The continuous rise in the number of monkeypox cases amidst the ongoing COVID–19 pandemic in Africa calls for concern, especially regarding its possible impact on the healthcare system. The current state of the healthcare system contributes substantially to the limitation of COVID–19 elimination in the region, which shows the poor state of the system. The re–emergence of the monkeypox virus amidst the pandemic means that the system must be strengthened to provide quality healthcare delivery for Africans. Therefore, it is high time that African health policymakers and governments begin to make decisions, decisions that will determine the fate of the African healthcare system and, consequently, the lives of people living in Africa in the ongoing event of COVID–19 and monkeypox.

Local government revenue leakages through corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa: The case of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has over the years experienced rampant corruption in all sectors of the economy. At local government level, there have been several allegations of corruption in areas such as revenue collection, procurement and land acquisitions among others. The magnitude of corruption is extreme especially in revenue collection. Most funds collected by local government revenue officials hardly reach municipalities’ coffers and are not accounted for. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has further created a breeding ground for corruption in revenue collection at local government level due to economic doldrums. Measures imposed by governments to contain the COVID-19 pandemic such as closure of all non-essential business activities, closure of borders and travel restrictions among others have reduced trade and economic activities.

Automatic extraction of data from infra-red thermometers with computer vision

Contactless infrared thermometers (NCITs) have been widely used as a rapid screening tool for patients with fever, particularly during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa and other developing countries. The screening information that can be gathered in this manner is difficult to leverage from a pandemic response perspective as common handheld thermometers have no means of automatically exporting measurement data. An algorithm for a mobile phone-based application is developed that is capable of automatically extracting the temperature information from common NCITs by making use of machine vision techniques and partitioning tasks between the screening operator and the mobile application. Temperature readings could accurately be captured from a range of devices with varying text characteristics and backlights in a range of lighting conditions. Additionally the methodology proposed is capable of running on low-end devices without a data connection and without extensive training requirements for different NCITs being required. The use of a low-cost smart-phone as the capturing device together with the involvement of the operator has been show to be a feasible alternative to fully automating processes. Results indicate that similar methods could be used in a range of applications where numerical data needs to be digitised from existing field instrumentation, particularly where such instrumentation feature segmented displays.