Thought of the Day - January 7 - The Plague of East Africa

As discussed before, Africa as a whole, with the notable exception of South Africa, has been faring well compared to Canada ( Thought of the Day - September 24 - Shout Out for Africa ).

Let's take a look at one of the regions of the continent: East Africa.

Here is the breakdown of cases and deaths. While it can be said that the level of reported cases and excess deaths varies from country by country, for a region with ten times the population of Canada to have less than half the deaths, means they are faring far better than we.

On this list, Kenya and Sudan are the worst affected on a per capita basis but the good news is it looks like the second wave is subsiding both of these countries.

So why this note concerning the plague of East Africa? As reported last year, while SARS-CoV-2 is receiving the "lions share" of attention in the west the real concern for East Africa is the re-emergence of locusts ( Thought of the Day - July 9 - SARS-CoV-2, Not the Only Plague Sweeping the World ).

Adult swarms appeared on the coast of Sudan and Eritrea in December, as did numerous immature swarms in eastern Ethiopia and central Somalia. They have now reached northern Kenya. More swarms will arrive this month and spread throughout Ethiopia and Kenya.

It is estimated the region may be invaded by over a trillion locusts this year. Forget COVID vaccinations, the focus of the people, government and NGOs this spring will be locusts. As, unfortunately, 2021 may turn out to be an even worse year than 2020 for East Africa.

Cheers

Cliff