Coronavirus is behaving differently in Africa - Dr. Augustina Sylverken

Research Scientist at the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR), Dr. Augustina Sylverken has revealed that the deadly coronavirus has a totally different characteristic in African countries, including Ghana.

According to her, as the cases of infected people in Europe and Asia keeps rising exponentially, the same cannot be said about Africa.

“If you actually look at the numbers we tested, and the number being positive, we are moving around 0.34 percent in terms of this active contact tracing and aggressive testing. For me, the virus is behaving differently in Africa, because if you look elsewhere, there’s an exponential growth,” she said.

She however made it clear that these were her speculations, and that changes are expected in the growth rate of the virus on the continent.

“These are just my speculations. We may have some level of immunity against other respiratory viruses, but again these are early days,” she added.

Dr. Sylverken further advised residents of shared homes who may be infected with the virus and under home treatment to take the necessary precautions to avoid infecting their neighbours.

“If you test positive and you live in a single room; a chamber and a hall, then it means that you have to device certain strategies. For example if you have just one bathroom and just one washroom, then the members of the house will need to use the washroom/bathroom before you do,” she stated.

Dr. Sylverken stated that contact tracing and aggressive testing is still going on within the country.