Characteristics of cases and deaths arising from SARS-CoV-2 infection in Zambia: March 2020 to April 2021

• Published in: The Pan African medical journal Vol. 45; p. 155
• Main Authors: Chanda, Stephen Longa, Tembo, Emmanuel, Sinyange, Nyambe, Kayeyi, Nkomba, Musonda, Kunda, Chewe, Orbie, Kasonde, Mpanga, Kapona, Ostridah, Ngomah, Albertina, Hamukale, Amos, Zulu, Paul Msanzya, Kapina, Muzala
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The African Field Epidemiology Network 2023
• ISSN: 1937-8688; 1937-8688
• DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2023.45.155.32018

Introductionsince March 2020, Zambia has been experiencing a SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. Little data has been reported on cases and deaths arising from COVID-19 in Africa. We described the demographic characteristics of these cases and deaths in Zambia.Methodswe analyzed data on all persons testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 from 18th March 2020 to 25th April 2021 in Zambia. COVID-19 cases were identified through port-of-entry surveillance, contact-tracing, health-care-worker testing, health-facility-based and community-based screening and community-death screening. All diagnoses were confirmed using real-time-polymerase-chain-reaction and rapid-antigen-test-kits of nasopharyngeal specimens. We analyzed age, sex, and date-of-reporting according to whether the cases or deaths occurred during the first wave (1st July to 15th September 2020) or the second wave (15th December 2020 to 10th April 2021). We computed Mann-Whitney-U-test to compare medians of continuous variables and chi-square tests to compare differences between proportions using R.Resultsa total 1,246 (1.36%) deaths were recorded among 91,378 confirmed cases during March 2020-April 2021 in Zambia. Persons who died were older than those who did not (median age 50 years versus 32.0 years, p< 0.001). Although only 4.7% of cases were among persons aged >60 years, most deaths (31.6%) occurred in this age group (p<0.001). More deaths (83.5%) occurred in the community than in health facilities (p<0.001).Conclusionduring the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Zambia, most deaths occurred in the community, indicating potential gaps in public health messaging about COVID-19. Improving health-seeking behaviors for COVID-19 through public messaging campaigns and engaging key community stakeholders in Zambia might reduce avoidable mortality. As the group most impacted by COVID-19 mortality, older persons might need enhanced outreach and linkage to care.