Africa COVID cases could be seven times higher than reported - WHO

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a mural by Senzart911 that shows people wearing facemasks, as South Africa scraps isolation for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) positive people with no symptoms, at Soweto's Kliptown, South Africa, February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The World Health Organization estimates that the number of COVID-19 infections in Africa could be seven times higher than official data suggests, while deaths from the virus could be two to three times higher, its regional head said on Thursday.

"We're very much aware that our surveillance systems problems that we had on the continent, with access to testing supplies, for example, have led to an underestimation of the cases," Dr Matshidiso Moeti told a regular online media briefing.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning and James Macharia Chege; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Catherine Evans)