JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The World Health Organization warns that an estimated 190,000 people in Africa could die of COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic and the disease could “smolder” across the continent for years.

The WHO estimates that as many as 44 million of the continent’s 1.3 billion people could be infected during the same period, but the estimated numbers of cases and deaths is based on the assumption that no containment measures are taken.

In fact, 43 African countries have implemented containment measures, ranging from strict nation-wide lockdowns, to curfews, closing schools and banning of public gatherings.

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