Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Coronavirus - Africa: COVID-19 Genome Sequencing Laboratory Network Launches in Africa

Ongoing sequencing is already providing crucial information for determining the type of SARS-CoV-2 lineage circulating in some countries

With several African countries now expanding COVID-19 testing, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have launched a network of laboratories to reinforce genome sequencing of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, in Africa.…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Coronavirus: Africa closes in on one million COVID-19 cases

Overall, the pandemic is accelerating with the number of new cases increasing by 50% during the last 14 days compared with the previous fortnight

COVID-19 infections in Africa will exceed one million cases in the coming days as the pandemic surges in several hotspot countries. In a little more than three weeks, the number of cases on the continent almost doubled to 889 457, with 18 806 deaths. Overall, the pandemic is accelerating with…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
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    • Dr Edith NKWEMBE, Microbiologist of INRB DRC using laboratory reagents to identify COVID-19
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

First case of COVID-19 confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The DRC is one of ten countries in Africa to have confirmed a case of COVID-19

The Ministry of Public Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported the country’s first case of COVID-19. Health authorities said tests found that a Congolese national, who had recently returned to Kinshasa from his residence in France had tested positive for the virus. The DRC is…