Assessing Differential Impacts of COVID-19 on African Countries: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people who fall sick with COVID-19 experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment. A number of deaths have been recorded across world. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the extent the virus affects Africa relative to other parts of the world and it significant. Fifty five countries were selected randomly based on their continents and cases of infection. Data from each country were obtained from United Nations Geoscheme and WHO and were analyzed and compared to that of the United State of America (USA). USA was used as a Comparism Factor (CF) because it has one of the best healthcare system and high COVID-19 cases. Subsequent examination of associations between the proportion of COVID-19 cases, recovery and deaths of each country to the United State of America was carried out. All data used in these analyses are from publicly available data sets. Data analyzed revealed that with exception of South Africa, Africa appears to be least affected by the virus. African countries have the least infected, more recovery and lesser number of deaths index. Result from the study suggests that the virus affect Africa the least when compared to USA and other continents in terms of cases and mortality. This may be due to among other factors a more robust immune response. The result also helps to provide insight as to how significant developing and providing vaccine may be to this part of the world.