Bishop Charles Agyinasare has attributed the low number of positive Covid-19 cases in Africa to the intervention of prayers made by Christians against the spread of the virus on the continent.

From his viewpoint, the lack of adequate healthcare facilities and support systems meant that we had to put our hope in a Higher Power to keep us safe from the threat of the virus.

“All over Africa, Christians were fasting and praying days on end, because, we do not have the things the developed countries have. They were dishing out Covid expense and all that. Some were getting as much as $2000 for staying at home and we do not have that,” he said.

In his interview with Emefa Apawu on JoyNews' The Lockdown, Sunday, the Bishop explained that although there is a scientific reason for the pandemic, there also is a spiritual angle to the outbreak.

He referred to a quotation in the Bible where Jesus in healing a woman who was bowed over for many years, described her ailment as "a spirit of infirmity".

“You see, scientifically, we have a way of defining it, but spiritually [it's different]. There was a woman in Luke chapter 13 that doctors will say had a curvature of the spine, that Jesus healed. She was bound together and could in no wise lift up herself. Jesus had said the spirit of infirmity had bound her. So, the scientists have their way of defining it.”

His comment comes after many foreign media and scientists have wondered why the continent is recording low cases and deaths as compared to the rest of the world.

In March, when over 95,333 cases have been reported globally and only 27 of them from Africa, a publication in The Africa Report stated that at the time it was because the continent “is simply less connected to the rest of the world”.

Other scientists had later stated that the continent was underreporting cases because countries did not have the capacity to conduct mass testing.

In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) voiced alarm at the "acceleration" of the disease in Africa which, until then, had remained relatively unscathed by the pandemic compared with the rest of the world.

In August, when coronavirus cases in Africa hit one million, Mary Stephen, technical officer at the WHO's regional office for Africa, told Al Jazeera that "we haven't seen the peak in Africa yet."

However, the World Health Organization (WHO), in September, said the Covid-19 outbreak in Africa may have passed its peak but warned governments not to be complacent as countries relax their restrictions.

Why Africa has low cases and deaths has remained a mystery to scientists.

He emphasized that it is the constant prayers of Africans that have kept us safe from the scourge of the virus as opposed to many other countries worldwide.

"That is why I believe that in Africa, we've had the scourge not as bad as other places because of the way we took it up in prayer".