Image from The Atlantic - Yasuyoshi Chiba / APP / Getty
Lately, we've been frequently asked about the COVID-19 situation in Kenya. The Atlantic has an interesting article that helps to understand the situation a little better.
In summary, author Graeme Wood criticizes an anonymous doctor in New York City who told CNN about "Third World conditions" in his hospital.
In the article, he uses the number of ventilators and intensive care beds to demonstrate how far ahead America, despite its perceived "Third World" conditions, still is compared to most African countries. The United States (admittedly with a much larger population) has 172,000 ventilators in operation—not enough for this pandemic. South Sudan (Kenya's northwestern neighbor) has only four ventilators in the entire country. Somalia in the northeast has only 15 intensive care beds.
In the West, efforts are being made to "flatten the curve." This means keeping the spread of the infection as low as possible to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system. But what good is that in Africa, where many countries lack a functioning healthcare system?
Here in Kenya, we're still seeing very low infection and death rates. There could be several reasons for this, but in my view, the most significant is the fact that testing is extremely limited. If a positive result is obtained, the infected person and their family and friends are locked in a kind of prison-like quarantine at their own expense. No one is going to voluntarily undergo a Covid test. Furthermore, even in normal times, many people die here every day without a reported cause of death. So, many could be dying from Covid here, and we wouldn't even know it.
The article also mentions other possible reasons why "sub-Saharan" Africa (i.e., the African countries excluding North Africa and South Africa) might fare better:
1- Covid appears to be more deadly in older patients and those with high BMI values. Many of the countries here have an average population age under 20 years and less than 51% of the population is overweight.
2- Because of the many diseases and epidemics that are unfortunately common here, most people have stronger immune systems.
3- Many countries took drastic protective measures relatively early.
4- In cities, „social distancing“ is very difficult, but traffic between cities is lower than in the West or Asia.
The fact is that Africa is lagging behind other countries in this crisis. The spread is occurring later, so we don't yet know how the Covid pandemic will unfold in Africa. Any solutions or countermeasures will also arrive there later.
Therefore, pray that God in his grace will intervene and protect this continent from the harsher effects of this crisis. Pray also that he will grant us wisdom and show us how best to act.
