WHO: Covid disruption resulted in 63,000 more malaria deaths

About 95% of the world’s 247 million malaria infections and 619,000 deaths last year were in Africa.

Surgeon and doctor-turned-refugee, Dr Tewodros Tefera, prepares a malaria test for 23-year-old Tigrayan refugee Hareg from Mekele, Ethiopia, at the Sudanese Red Crescent clinic in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, near the border with Ethiopia (Nariman El-Mofty/AP)

The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 additional deaths and 13 million more infections globally over two years, a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Cases of the parasitic disease went up in 2020 and continued to climb in 2021, though at a slower pace, the UN health agency said on Thursday.