What Happened: The World Health Organization (WHO) said COVID-19-related deaths in Africa will fall by 94% in 2022 based on health modeling, Reuters reported June 2. In 2021, an average of 970 people died of causes related to COVID-19 each day, whereas the WHO model predicts only 60 such deaths per day in 2022.

Why It Matters: An expected drop in COVID-19-related deaths may mean African countries can begin shifting health budgets back to focus on endemic and more deadly diseases — like malaria, tuberculosis and measles — that pose a greater risk to the continent's long-term development.

Background: Data shows that richer and more southern sub-Sharan African countries have double the COVID-19 mortality rates of poorer countries, likely due to under-reporting and comorbidities. According to WHO data and predictions, only one in 77 COVID-19 cases and two out of three deaths are reported.