Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern’s response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

Africa has suffered fewer COVID-19 deaths than predicted. Richard Wamai knows why.

People in this story

Africa has accounted for a relatively small number of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard Wamai, a Northeastern associate professor of cultures, societies, and global studies, wanted to know why the official numbers differed so widely with projections from the early days of the pandemic that Africa would be especially vulnerable to the disease.

“The predictions of mass COVID casualties were based on a misunderstanding of the continent,” says Wamai, who has co-authored a new paper that details why the gloomy predictions have largely gone unrealized. “There are lessons we can learn about how the continent has handled the pandemic, or how the pandemic has manifested in the continent.”

Not only has Africa utilized unrecognized strengths to help fend off COVID-19, says Wamai, but it also offers clues that can be applied against future pandemics. Africa represents 12.5 percent of the global population, but it accounted for just 4 percent of the 3.4 million deaths that had been reported around the world as of May 18. 

Continue reading at News@Northeastern.

More Stories

A view of the Supreme Court at dusk, January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump will announce his nominee for the Supreme Court on Tuesday night.

Supreme Court set to rule on five big cases as term winds down over the next few weeks

05.08.2025
Clouds pass over the St. Peter Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, May 6, 2025.

Why ‘theopolitics’ and not nationality is likely to decide the next pope

05.08.2025
Jiaao Yu a sociology doctoral student at Northeastern, poses for a portrait on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

How do friends impact youth non-suicidal self-injury? Northeastern researcher explains

05.08.25
Student Stories