Thread by @thehowie

Incredible investigative journalism on why Africa was seemingly *spared* the worst of COVID.

The answer is not younger pop, more Ivermectin, nor climate.

Answer: Lack of testing and massive cover-up.

Great reporting by @JoeWSJ .

Short thread of his findings:

https://twitter.com/JoeWSJ/status/1456565025951334432

"At the Kondo graveyard in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania...We used to bury one a week [before the pandemic], but over the past year we have reached 17 a day.”

"Last year, President John Magufuli declared the virus a “satanic myth” propagated by imperialist powers.... ...and labeled those who wore masks unpatriotic.

By this spring, the president was dead, along with 6 other senior politicians..."

"In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, workers at the main Bukasa cemetery said the average number of daily burials has jumped from six to 30 since last year. "

"In the central morgue of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, Covid-19 was present in 87% of all bodies in June, Boston University scientists found in a recent study."

"Underlining the problem is a lack of testing: African nations have tested just 70 million people ...or around 5% of the population, according to WHO. In the U.S., for comparison, total tests number about 618 million, close to twice the population, according to the CDC."

"In Tanzania, where the official Covid-19 death toll is 724, the Economist study estimated an excess mortality of up to 69,000 since the pandemic began."

"But with vaccine skepticism widespread after a year of official Covid denial, the shots have so far reached just 1.6% of the population, one of the lowest rates in the world." (Tanzania)

"On a single day—May 15—every one of the 43 people who tested positive in the country were Tanzanian truckers crossing the border, forcing the government to close it. Four Tanzanians died at the wheel of their trucks waiting for a test."

"Health Minister... called a press conference that looked a lot like a cooking show..."The government has no plans to receive...vaccines...being distributed in other countries,’’ Dr. Gwajima said, before covering herself with a blanket to inhale steam from a saucepan of herbs."