The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Addis Ababa, US | XINHUA | The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday said that the number of positive COVID-19 cases across the African continent has reached 1,220,511 amid rapid spread of the virus in a few African countries.
The Africa CDC, noting that five African countries account for about 72 percent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, also stressed that the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic rose to 28,850 on Friday.
The African Union (AU) Commission’s specialized healthcare agency also said that some 953,643 people who were infected with COVID-19 had recovered across the continent so far.
Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, South Africa alone accounts for about 50 percent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, followed by Egypt which has eight percent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, the Africa CDC said.
The continental disease control and prevention agency said that South Africa is way ahead compared to the rest of the continent both in terms of number of COVID-19 cases and ratio of COVID-19 infected population, as the country has so far reported 618,286 cases and 13,628 deaths as of Friday. The country has 1,060 cases per 100,000 population, it was noted.
Egypt is the second most COVID-19 affected country with 98,062 positive cases and 5,342 COVID-19 related deaths, it was noted.
Morocco, which has so far reported 57,085 positive cases and 1,011 deaths, comes third with five percent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, while Nigeria and Ethiopia round the top of five list with each having about four percent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, according to the Africa CDC.
According to the Africa CDC, the southern Africa region is the most affected area in terms of confirmed cases, followed by northern Africa and western Africa regions.
On Thursday, the Africa CDC disclosed that nine African countries are reporting fatality rates higher than the global case fatality rate of 3.4 percent.
However, the overall continental fatality rate in the African continent currently stands at 2.4 percent, below the global fatality threshold.
On a positive note, the Africa CDC said over the last one week 58,417 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the continent, a 20 percent drop in cases when compared to the previous week.
The agency of also noted an overall increase in the number of COVID-19 tests being carried out in the continent.
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