In late February, the first case of Covid-19 in West Africa was recorded in Nigeria. Within one month, the virus had spread to all 17 countries.

The number of confirmed cases depends on how much a country actually tests. For many countries in the region, data on testing is either incomplete or unavailable.

Similarly, death tolls must be interpreted with caution. They may exclude people who did not die in a hospital, or who died before they could be tested. They are also likely to exclude people who died from other causes because hospitals were overwhelmed by a surge in Covid-19 patients.

Full text available here: http://www.oecd.org/swac/coronavirus-west-africa/