Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has revealed that the centre is encouraged by the recent downward trend in the number of COVID-19 cases registered across the region.

"Between the period of September 13-19, a total of 104,000 new cases were reported across the continent, and this represents a 22 per cent decrease in the number of new cases reported during that period compared to the previous week.

"If you look at the four-week period between August 30 and September 19, we observed a 19 per cent average decrease in new cases reported during this period.

"We continue to be encouraged by the progress we are seeing in several countries as they move towards full vaccination," Dr Nkengasong stated in a document made available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema on Thursday.

To date, the highly contagious variants of the coronavirus continue to spread across the continent. As of September 23rd; 8.1 million cases had been reported in the different member states, accounting for 3.6 per cent of the COVID-19 cases reported globally.

"The continent is still going through a severe third wave as 78 per cent of our member states are currently going through the third wave," Dr Nkengasong stated.

"And of these, 32 are experiencing a severe third wave; seven countries, including Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia, and Tunisia, are currently experiencing the fourth wave and of that number, four of them are going through a fourth wave."

Dr Nkengasong explained that the African Union (AU) through the Africa CDC would continue to lead the continent in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Africa CDC Director said since its outbreak, the viral infection had affected economies and millions of families, leading to a change in the customary way of living life.

Dr Nkengasong said with several member states left dealing with the disease, the Africa CDC had continued to lead the fight against the pandemic by supporting several governments in several ways, including through the acquisition and distribution of vaccines.