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SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing in Africa: needs and challenges

2020; African Field Epidemiology Network; Volume: 35; Issue: Supp 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.11604/pamj.2020.35.4.22703

1937-8688

Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi, Gabriel Ilerioluwa Oke, Peter Sunday Ademola, Iwendi Godsgift Chinemelum, Isaac Olushola Ogunkola, Don Eliseo Lucero‐Prisno,

COVID-19 diagnosis using AI

Novel Coronavirus (also called COVID-19, or 2019-nCoV, or SARS-CoV-2) is an unprecedented pandemic. As depicted by the upsurge of the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases and the rapid geographical expansion of the virus, it is evident that it is truly a global health threat and Africa is not an exception to this threat. As of March 31 2020, 5, 287 SARS-CoV-2 cases and 172 deaths have been reported in 48 African nations. However, underreporting of numbers of cases may be due to diagnostic insufficiency, low testing capacity and most of all the fragile healthcare system on the continent. This letter emphasizes the needs and challenges of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing in Africa.