Africa has been facing the Covid 19 pandemics much better than any other continent in the world. It sounds weird, but the “Black Continent” had very few damages and victims since the world pandemics started. It is not true that we do not have serious reports, or that the African nations are hiding their victims. There are many good and reasonable elements that make Africa one of the safest places in the world. The fact is: is it still so? Is Africa still a safe place where to plan your next holiday?

Africa and Covid: why it is not that bad

There are five main reasons why Covid 19 could not spread in Africa the same way it did in the other continents.

• Immediate action: Africa was coming out of the Ebola period and was ready to face a new pandemics, so it reacted immediately as soon as Egypt had the first Covid case in February 2020.
• Hot climate: this allows lungs to breathe much better and to keep their inner cells large, so the Covid finds no place where to put its roots and start the illness.
• Young people: Africa is a land of young people, so the disease from Covid 19 did not kill the population as much as it did where 80% of the inhabitants are over 60.
• Distances : the large distances between villages, towns and big cities prevented the disease to spread as quickly as it did in Europe, Asia and America.
• Local Health Organization: missions, local hospitals, local doctors all worked as a unique team in order to protect the population.

This made 2020 be a year of very few troubles for Africa, as far as the pandemics is concerned. Is it still so? Or has anything changed? Is it safe to book a trip to Africa, in this summer 2021?

Covid situation in Africa, today

At the eve of summer 2021, Africa is struggling against the “variants problem”. Nigeria had already developed a variant of Covid 19, which seemed to be not so dangerous though. But unfortunately also the Indian variant has arrived. Cases were reported in: Uganda, Kenya, Morocco, Botswana, Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Plus the already known South African variant.

Over the past month, death rates have been rising again, after a short break. But cases number has declined 9%, which means vaccinations are starting to work well. Only 5,1% of the people has had at least one dose of vaccine, though – which is very few! The nations that used more vaccines are: Morocco, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. Others do have the vaccines but are saving them for the next months, just in case of a new emergency.

So the general situation is less dramatic than in other parts of the world, but there are many variants and few vaccines. If you can, plan your African trip for next year and let the situation get better. But if you must go to Africa right now, make sure you always ask detailed information to the chosen nation’s embassy about the health situation, Covid rules and cases and victims short before you plan your holiday.