Southern and Eastern Africa COVID-19 Digest (20 August 2020)

HIGHLIGHTS

• South Africa continues to report the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the African continent.
• Inadequate access to personal protective equipment or weak infection prevention and control measures raise the risk of health worker infection.
• In East Africa, 92 per cent of working women are employed in the informal sector, heightening the risks they face of sexual exploitation and abuse due to economic vulnerability.
• Reports of gender-based violence have increased. However, service providers are not always being recognized as essential workers and women's organizations are underfunded.
• The COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan is just 22 per cent funded. More resources are urgently needed to enable partners to scale-up their response.

KEY FIGURES

• 745,455 total cases in the region (as of 19 Aug)
• 15,637 total deaths
• 26 countries affected in the region