South Africa leads Covid deaths in Africa – by far
Scientists are still working out why South Africa, of all African countries, should have been so hard-hit by Covid-19.
It is not just that South Africa has now over 100,000 known or ascribed Covid deaths, but that it also has over 306,000 "excess natural deaths", many expected to have been undiagnosed Covid-deaths, others caused indirectly by the pandemic by preventing timely treatment, or even any treatment, for a range of other fatal conditions.
This means the real death toll in S Africa from the Covid pandemic to date is arguably over 400,000 – by far Africa's highest toll.
Africa's circumstances, population profile and related demographics do little to nothing to explain the relatively low numbers reported elsewhere in Africa, as compared to South Africa's figures.
One argument is that most Africans have stronger immunity than perhaps that of their Eurasian or North America counterparts, but that point is contradicted in communities with strong African genetic heritage but also with higher than average rates of infection.
This was evident in the USA, where black and Latino people were more likely to die or have severe disease than Americans in other demographics.
And runaway infections in several South American countries argues against the issue being one of 'which hemisphere, north or south'.
One factor likely to contribute to the evident gulf between South Africa and other African states hit by the pandemic is that South Africa has the most developed health system, and system of recording health events, on the continent.
In this assessment, South Africa simply observed and treated more cases than even close neighbouring states, and more deaths associated with Covid were also therefore recorded.
The current death toll for the next dozen most Covid-affected African states are:
Tunisia 28533
Egypt 24613
Morocco 16064
Ethiopia 7510
Algeria 6875
Kenya 5649
Zimbabwe 5468
Sudan 4930
Namibia 4022
Zambia 3973
Uganda 3596
Nigeria 3143