The scale of COVID-19 cases in Africa is still on the rise. Africa has 54 countries, with all the nations, having confirmed cases of coronavirus with the number of infection now exceeding the 82,000 marks, according to the latest figures.
The most populous black continent has recorded 82,158 cases, with 47,970 cases still under treatment, 2,723 succumbed to the deadly virus, and 31,465 recoveries as of 17 May 2020.
The Northern and Western sub-regions of Africa have higher cases, all exceeding the 23,000 infected people, followed by the Southern region with over 14,000 cases. In comparison, central Africa and eastern areas appear to be the least affected region with the total number of infections of each above 7,000 infected people.
Out of 54 affected countries in Africa, Lesotho is the least affected country, with one registered case as of today. 13 of the 54 affected nations have already registered more than 1,000 cases. Still, South Africa has more cases than any other country with over 14,000 registered cases.
Despite that, South Africa, with the highest number of confirmed cases in Africa, yet, they are not the country with the highest number of death. Egypt with 11,719 cases tops the in Africa with 612 deaths, followed by Algeria – 7,019 infected people – with 548 deaths, while South Africa recorded 261 deaths.
These countries in Africa have not registered any covid-19 death so far, as of 17, May 2020: Central Africa, Eritrea, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, and Uganda.
The Top 10 countries in Africa with COVID-19 cases are as follows:
- South Africa – (14, 355 number of cases, 6, 478 recovered, 261 deaths)
- Egypt – (11,719 number of cases, 2, 950 recovered, 612 deaths)
- Algeria – (7, 019 number of cases, 3, 507 recovered, 548 deaths)
- Morocco – (6, 798 number of cases, 3, 645 recovered, 192 deaths)
- Ghana – (5, 735 number of cases, 1, 754 recovered, 29 deaths)
- Nigeria – (5, 621 number of cases, 1, 472 recovered, 174 deaths)
- Cameroon – (3, 105 number of cases, 1, 564 recovered, 140 deaths)
- Guinea – (2, 658 number of cases, 1, 133 recovered, 16 deaths)
- Senegal – (2, 480 number of cases, 973 recovered, 25 deaths)
- Ivory Coast – (2, 061 number of cases, 987 recovered, 25 deaths)
(The above statistic is sourced from Who health organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention)
For many African countries, it is time to step up more on affective measures to stem the pandemic. Focusing on the nature of the responses might not trigger the immediate effect to curb the spreading of COVID-19.
“Our greatest concern remains the possibility that COVID-19 could spread to countries with weaker health systems,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing at the African Union headquarters.
The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the continent is better prepared today than a month ago to deal with the disease.
