Africa surpasses 1 million Covid-19 cases, more than half in South Africa

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Africa surpasses 1 million Covid-19 cases, more than half in South Africa

8:36 CAT | 07 Aug 2020

FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visits coronavirus disease (Covid-19) treatment facilities in Johannesburg, South Africa April 24, 2020. [File photo: Jerome Delay/ Reuters]

The number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to over one million, with more than half registered in South Africa, according to an AFP count late Thursday.

The continent’s worst-hit nation has registered 538,184 infections, including over 8,000 new cases on Thursday, and 9,604 deaths.

Egypt has recorded around 95,000 COVID-19 cases while the figure in Nigeria is 45,000.

South Africa’s infection figures are the fifth-highest after the US, Brazil, India and Russia.

Nevertheless the African continent remains one of the least affected, according to the official figures, with only Oceania registering fewer COVID-19 cases.

But the official numbers are likely to be a fraction of the real extent of the virus’ spread throughout Africa where a number of countries have failing healthcare systems and limited screening capacities.

Worldwide there have been some 19 million recorded coronavirus cases resulting in over 709,000 deaths.

Source: AFP