Method

The dataset contains several confirmed COVID-19 cases, number of deaths, and death rate in six regions. The objective of the study is to compare the number of confirmed cases in Africa to other regions.

Death rate = Total number of deaths from COVID-19 divided by the Total Number of infected patients.

The study provides evidence for the country-level in six regions by the World Health Organisation's classification.

Findings

Based on the descriptive data provided above, we conclude that the lack of tourism is one of the key reasons why COVID-19 reported cases are low in Africa compared to other regions. We also justified this claim by providing evidence from the economic freedom index, which indicates that the vast majority of African countries recorded a low index for a business environment. On the other hand, we conclude that the death rate is higher in the African region compared to other regions. This points to issues concerning health-care expenditure, low capacity for testing for COVID-19, and poor infrastructure in the region.

Apart from COVID-19, there are significant pre-existing diseases, namely; Malaria, Flu, HIV/AIDS, and Ebola in the continent. This study, therefore, invites the leaders to invest massively in the health-care system, infrastructure, and human capital in order to provide a sustainable environment for today and future generations. Lastly, policy uncertainty has been a major issue in determining a sustainable development goal on the continent. This uncertainty has differentiated Africa to other regions in terms of stepping up in the time of global crisis.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (formerly known as the ONS Opinions Survey or Omnibus) is an omnibus survey that began in 1990, collecting data on a range of subjects commissioned by both the ONS internally and external clients (limited to other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).Data are collected from one individual aged 16 or over, selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include data on the individual, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living, on individuals and households in Great Britain. From April 2018 to November 2019, the design of the OPN changed from face-to-face to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers. In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held in the Secure Access study, SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Covid-19 Module, 2020-2022: Secure Access. From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifting across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remains sustainable. The OPN has since expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living. For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the ONS OPN Quality and Methodology Information webpage.Secure Access Opinions and Lifestyle Survey dataOther Secure Access OPN data cover modules run at various points from 1997-2019, on Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See Opinions and Lifestyle Survey: Secure Access for details. Main Topics:Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions that vary from month to month. The non-core questions for this month were: Second Homes (Module 4): ownership of a second home by any member of the household and reasons for having the second home. Condoms (Module 6): use of condoms among sexually active and its relation to publicity about HIV and AIDS. Cot Deaths (Module 37): questions about the recent publicity giving information on preventing cot deaths. Housing History (Module 35): a series of questions about home ownership. Stepchildren (Module 5): existence of stepchildren of informant/partner in household, and of dependent children of informant/partner outside the household. Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview

BackgroundCOVID-19 experiences on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) from district-level hospital settings during waves I and II are scarcely documented. The aim of this study is to investigate the NCDs associated with COVID-19 severity and mortality in a district-level hospital with a high HIV/TB burden.MethodsThis was a retrospective observational study that compared COVID-19 waves I and II at Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. COVID-19 adult patients with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or positive antigen test were included. In order to compare the inter wave period, clinical and laboratory parameters on hospital admission of noncommunicable diseases, the Student t-test or Mann-Whitney U for continuous data and the X2 test or Fishers’ Exact test for categorical data were used. The role of the NCD subpopulation on COVID-19 mortality was determined using latent class analysis (LCA).FindingsAmong 560 patients admitted with COVID-19, patients admitted during wave II were significantly older than those admitted during wave I. The most prevalent comorbidity patterns were hypertension (87%), diabetes mellitus (65%), HIV/AIDS (30%), obesity (19%), Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) (13%), Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF) (8.8%), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (3%), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA)/stroke (3%), with similar prevalence in both waves except HIV status [(23% vs 34% waves II and I, respectively), p = 0.022], obesity [(52% vs 2.5%, waves II and I, respectively), p

Multiple regression results for the association between own HIV infected status in 2006 or 2008 and COVID-19 related perceptions and responses in 2020, MLSFH data.

We collected county-level cumulative COVID-19 confirmed cases and death from Mar 25 to Nov 12, 2020, across the contiguous United States from USAFacts (usafacts.org). We considered Mar 25 to Jun 3 as the “1st wave”, Jun 4 to Sep 2 as the “2nd wave”, and Sep 3 to Nov 12 as the “3rd wave” of COVID-19. For the 2nd and 3rd waves, we analyzed the targeted counties in the sunbelt region (including AL, AZ, AR, CA, FL, GA, KS, LA, MS, NV, NM, NC, OK, SC, TX, TN, and UT states) and great plains region (including IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, MN, ND, NE, OH, SD, and WI states), respectively. MIR, as a proxy for survival rate, is calculated by dividing the number of confirmed deaths in each county by the confirmed cases in the same county at the same time-period multiplied by 100. MIR ranges from 0%-100%, 100% indicating the worst situation where all confirmed cases have died.

Thirty-eight potential risk factors (covariates), including county-level MR of comorbidities & disorders, demographics & social factors, and environmental factors, were retrieved from the University of Washington Global Health Data Exchange (http://ghdx.healthdata.org/us-data). Comorbidities and disorders include CVD, cardiomyopathy and myocarditis and myocarditis, hypertensive heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, atrial fibrillation, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), lower respiratory infection, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis, asthma, COPD, ischemia, mesothelioma, tracheal cancer, leukemia, pancreatic cancer, rheumatic disease, drug use disorder, and alcohol use disorder. Demographics & social factors include age, female African American%, female white American%, male African American%, male white American%, Asian%, smokers%, unemployed%, income rate, food insecurity, fair/poor health, and uninsured%. Environmental factors include county population density, air quality index (AQI), temperature, and PM. A descriptive table, including all potential risk factors, is provided in Table S1).

Multiple regression results for the association between AIDS related mortality (ever) in community in 2006 or 2008 and COVID-19 related perceptions and responses in 2020, MLSFH data.

Sociodemographic characteristics and treatment outcome status of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 to Bokoji Hospital treatment centre, 2021.

Estimation results for COVID-19 mortality rate per 100K population.