Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2022 shows the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
The ongoing AU summit has become a game changer for the way that such conferences and meetings are organized in African continent, where people actually follow public health measures very strictly, said Africa CDC Director.
ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Strict COVID-19 prevention methods enrolled at the ongoing African Union (AU) Summit, underway for the first time physically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, proved a game changer in Africa's fight against the pandemic, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) John Nkengasong said Sunday.
The director said critics were labeling the summit, which was convened physically following a hiatus in 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as "a transmission event or a super spreader event."
"We stood firm and we said, we want to be sure to understand the kinetics of infection during the Summit. So when we pronounced ourselves and we said that the summit was COVID-19 free, we backed that with science," Nkengasong addressing the media on the sidelines of the summit.
Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2022 shows the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.(Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
As part of the strict COVID-19 preventive methods enrolled at the summit, an antigen test is mandatory for participants before accessing the AU headquarters compound in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
During the first three days of the event, comprising the meetings of AU Executive Council and AU Assembly, the Africa CDC managed to conduct over 5,400 COVID-19 tests using temporary testing centers installed inside the AU premises.
According to the Africa CDC director, some 25 positive COVID-19 cases were detected during the first three days of the summit, which began on Wednesday, with an overall positivity rate of around 0.6 percent.
"This Summit has become a game-changer for the way that such conferences and meetings are organized in this continent, where people actually follow public health measures very strictly," the director said.
As of Saturday evening, a total of 10,896,302 COVID-19 cases were reported in Africa. The death toll from the pandemic across the continent stands at 241,112, while 9,917,757 patients have recovered from the disease. ■