XPost: soc.culture.south-africa, alt.niggers, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: nigger-lovers@disney.com   
      
   The novel coronavirus has infected more than 26.35 million   
   people, with just four countries accounting for over 15 million   
   cases. They are the United States, Brazil, India and Russia —   
   the same four that have been at the top for months. The US   
   surprised the world when it rose to the top spot in multiple   
   COVID-19 statistics, both for the total number of confirmed   
   cases and the number of deaths. Since then, no other country has   
   surpassed America.   
      
   But scientists who are studying the pandemic have also   
   identified another surprise of the pandemic. Some expected the   
   African continent to be affected most heavily by the virus, but   
   that wasn’t the case. South Africa stands out when it comes to   
   the number of total cases, with nearly 631,000 infections. But   
   fewer than 15,000 people have died of COVID-19. These figures   
   are puzzling scientists looking to understand how the virus   
   behaves and how it can be beaten.   
      
   The hypothesis that poverty should have a significant impact on   
   the spread of the virus doesn’t stand when it comes to the   
   entire African continent. Developing countries like Brazil and   
   India showed that the virus couldn’t be contained once it   
   reached densely populated, but poor, neighborhoods.   
      
   Experts expected the same thing to happen in Africa, but it   
   didn’t. If anything, Africa is doing better than any other   
   continent, both when it comes to cases and casualties. As BBC   
   News explains, even if those numbers are significantly   
   underreported, Africa still has it much better than other   
   continents right now.   
      
   “I thought we were heading towards a disaster, a complete   
   meltdown,” Professor Shabir Madhi told BBC News. The UK’s top   
   virologist echoed what others must have thought about the   
   African coronavirus outbreak. But South Africa’s death rate is   
   almost seven times lower than in the UK.   
      
   Salim Abdool Karim, the head of the country’s COVID-19 response   
   team, told the BBC that “most African countries don’t have a   
   peak,” which is surprising. “I don’t understand why. I’m   
   completely at sea,” he added.   
      
   He explained that factors like population density would be a   
   critical factor that would favor the rapid spread of the illness   
   inside the African continent. Crowding in poverty-stricken areas   
   makes social distancing all but impossible, and that increases   
   the risk of COVID-19 spreading.   
      
   One hypothesis that can explain the disparity between Africa and   
   other continents concerns the overall age of the population. In   
   general, the population of Africa is younger than in regions   
   hardest-hit by COVID-19.   
      
   Another hypothesis will sound familiar to those who have been   
   following coronavirus developments closely. Some researchers   
   have shown that other human coronaviruses that cause common   
   colds can elicit an immune response that could provide   
   protection against COVID-19. South African researchers went to   
   work on that idea, attempting to analyze five-year-old blood   
   samples that were conserved from a flu vaccine trial in Soweto.   
   The plan was to look for any evidence that would explain why the   
   African continent is faring much better against the illness than   
   others. Those samples were compromised by technical issues that   
   put a stop to the research.   
      
   But the idea stands. The same crowded neighborhoods that would   
   lead to the quick spread of other coronaviruses may have   
   protected the population from SARS-CoV-2.   
      
   “It’s a hypothesis. Some level of pre-existing cross-protective   
   immunity … might explain why the epidemic didn’t unfold [the way   
   it did in other parts of the world],” Mahdi said. “The   
   protection might be much more intense in highly populated areas,   
   in African settings. It might explain why the majority [on the   
   continent] have asymptomatic or mild infections.”   
      
   “I can’t think of anything else that would explain the numbers   
   of completely asymptomatic people we’re seeing. The numbers are   
   completely unbelievable,” he said.   
      
   But if that hypothesis is true, why have Brazil and India seen   
   massive COVID-19 surges in the past few months? Karim warned   
   that even considering the evolution of the pandemic on the   
   continent so far, Africa isn’t out of the woods. “I’m not sure   
   whether one day the epidemic is going to spread like crazy   
   here,” he said.   
      
   https://nypost.com/2020/09/04/scientists-cant-explain-puzzling-   
   lack-of-coronavirus-outbreaks-in-africa/   
      
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