As many African countries reopen, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges widespread testing as the best way to avoid a surge in new cases of coronavirus.
Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa CDC, said that to have a reasonably accurate picture of how the disease is spreading, Africa needs about 15 million tests, or enough to test about 1% of the population.
To date, the Africa CDC has distributed about 2.7 million tests, including a planned distribution of about 900,000 tests in Senegal this week.
Africa CDC Deputy Director Dr. Ahmed Ogwell told VOA’s English-to-Africa health reporter that the organization is seeking to acquire polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which detect genetic material from the virus, rather than some other rapid tests that are less reliable.
Africa has recorded a lower caseload than other parts of the globe, with about 119,000 cases of COVID-19 infection and about 3,500 deaths.
