The BIG Interview with Dr . John N . Nkengasong
Why Aren ’ t Africans Dying ?
In December 2019 , as the coronavirus spread from China to Europe and America leaving ruins in its path , it was clear that no corner of the world would be spared . By February the first cases were announced in Egypt , South Africa , Nairobi , and soon after the virus had spread across the entire African continent . Western media , to the amazement of Africans , began to publish stories with titles such as the BBC ’ s “ Coronavirus in Africa : Could poverty explain mystery of low death rates ?” of September 2020 ; or the UK ’ s Sky News that carried a title asking , “ Covid-19 in Africa : Why is the death rate so low ? In October 2020 , The Africa Report also asked , “ Covid-19 :
Why are Africa ’ s death rates low ? Similarly abhorrent articles were allowed to pass as “ analysis .”
It was as if these media houses were eager to demonstrate the hopelessness of Africa ( ns ) and consequently couldn ’ t get themselves to objectively cover how Africa was grappling with the
93