Reuters survey finds virus exposing gaping holes in Africa’s health systems

African nations are facing a surge of COVID-19 cases with less than one intensive care bed and one ventilator per 100,000 people, a Reuters survey has found. Even in a best-case scenario, the continent could need at least 10 times the number it has now as the outbreak peaks, an analysis of researchers’ projections showed. The shortages across Africa’s national health systems are among the starkest elements to emerge from the survey, which polled 54 countries and received responses from health officials or independent experts in 48 of them.