Citizens queue up for food and supplies provided by charity groups in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

Cities in Africa are epidemiological foci for COVID-19 spread, making containment and response measures considerably more difficult, a new United Nations report said.

ADDIS ABABA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Cities in Africa are epidemiological foci for COVID-19 spread, making containment and response measures considerably more difficult, a new United Nations report said.

The report, entitled "COVID-19 in African Cities: Impacts, Responses and Policies," was jointly published by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the UN Habitat, the UN Capital Development Fund, the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa, as well as the African Development Bank, on Wednesday.

It analyzed the COVID-19 situation on the African continent and efforts channeled at mitigating the pandemic within the context of cities in the region.

"African cities are epidemiological foci for COVID-19. The quality and nature of Africa's urbanization exacerbates transmission rates of infectious diseases like COVID-19 and makes containment and response measures considerably more difficult," the report said.

It said COVID-19 risk factors are acute in African cities in part due to the largely unplanned and poorly managed urbanization process that resulted in widespread informal settlements and severe infrastructure and service deficits.

Customers shop in a mall in Johannesburg, South Africa, June 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

Africa is now experiencing the most rapid urban growth in the world, and the continent's urban population increased more than 10 times in six decades, from 53 million in 1960 to 588 million in 2020.

In 2019, about 257 million people, or 47 percent of Africa's urban population, lived in slums or informal settlements. Only 55 percent and 47 percent of Africa's urban residents have access to basic sanitation services and hand-washing facilities respectively, according to the report.

It said most urban residents rely on the informal sector, which employs 71 percent of Africans, making them highly vulnerable to loss of income and unable to abide by restrictions and lockdown measures.

High population densities, coupled with overcrowded public transport and marketplaces, make social distancing almost impossible, the report said.

These factors combined make Africa's cities hotbeds for COVID-19, it said.

COVID-19 has adversely impacted African cities in many ways, with low ratios of health professionals and hospital beds and most of its stock of pharmaceuticals being imported, making health systems highly constrained to respond to the pandemic, the report said.

To adequately address the challenges of COVID-19, the report proposed five recommendations, including applying local communication and community engagement strategies, and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the informal economy.

Photo taken on June 13, 2020 shows stores at a market in Dakar, Senegal. (Photo by Eddy Peters/Xinhua)

It also called for deepening decentralized responses to COVID-19 through strengthened local government capacities, targeting informal settlements through tailored measures, as well as establishing mechanisms to promote rapid access to housing and prevent forced evictions.

The report also listed integrating urban planning and management as key priorities for recovery and rebuilding strategies toward long-term resilience.

Edlam Abera Yemeru, chief of the Urbanization and Development Section at the ECA, said the economic and financial impact of COVID-19 in Africa "has been severe at all scales, from national to local."

"The economic effects of COVID-19 have been particularly severe due to underlying vulnerabilities in African economies," Yemeru said.

According to figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the continent stood at 251,866 as of Tuesday.

Death toll from the pandemic rose from 6,464 on Monday to 6,769 as of Tuesday, and 114,308 people who were infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent, the Africa CDC said. ■