The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Sunday informed the total number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases in Africa has surpassed 1,506,185 as of Sunday, reported The Premium Times. The virus has reached all 54 countries in Africa, affecting already fragile healthcare systems and crippling economies.
In a statement, the continental disease control and prevention agency said the death toll due to illnesses related to COVID-19 in Africa has reached 36,614. The total number of cases reported in the continent represents about 4.4 percent of the global tally.
The Africa CDC said South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nigeria are the most coronavirus affected African countries in terms of the number of positive coronavirus cases.
The Southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases as well as the number of deaths. The Northern Africa region is the second most affected African region. Only three African countries have confirmed COVID-19 cases in excess of 100,000.
The Africa CDC also said 12 African countries are reporting coronavirus related fatality rates higher than the global case fatality rate of three per cent. These African countries include Chad, Liberia, Niger, Egypt, Mali, Angola, Algeria and Sudan.
South Africa currently has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Africa and is the tenth most affected country globally. It has reported around 679,716 coronavirus cases so far. South Africa also has the highest number of fatalities at around 16,938.
Egypt has the highest number of cases in North Africa with 103,575 COVID-19 cases registered with just under 6,000 deaths. In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, around 60,000 people have tested positive for the virus and 1,113 have died.
The coronavirus, which emerged in China’s Wuhan in December 2019, has spread to 188 countries so far.
