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COVID-19 in Africa: A pair of studies lays out sobering COVID-19 data for Africa, and for Zambia in particular. In The BMJ, researchers collected postmortem nasopharyngeal samples from nearly 400 deceased people in Lusaka, Zambia, from June to September 2020. 18% were Covid+
Permission was granted as next of kin came to collect bodies from the morgue. Between 16% and 19% of the decedents tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, depending on the viral threshold used. Three fourths of these COVID-19 deaths occurred in the community, and none of these were
tested for COVID-19 before their deaths. Roughly 10% of the deaths were in children. The authors note that tuberculosis, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS were common. The authors conclude:
"Contradicting the prevailing narrative that [COVID-19] has spared Africa, the disease has had a severe impact in Zambia. How this was missed is largely explained by low testing rates, not by a low prevalence http://response.jwatch.org/t?ctl=9A685:586F9286410B1EC31A8078807D23D5D6&
B.1.351 in Zambia: Then in MMWR, researchers report that in Zambia, the average number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased from 44 cases a day in early December to 700 a day in early January, an increase of 16-fold. This came after the B.1.351 variant -- first detected in
South Africa -- was found in Zambia in the latter half of December. The authors write: "Spread of the B.1.351 variant is of public health concern because of the potential for increased transmissibility and, thus, increases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
The B.1.351 variant might be associated with higher viral loads and contains another spike protein mutation (E484K) that might hinder antibody binding, which could blunt naturally developed immunity or reduce vaccine efficacy." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7008e2.htm?s_cid=mm7008e2_x
