Coronavirus: Cases rise to 21,000 in Africa - WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo says the number of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Africa has risen to over 21,000.

The UN’s health agency gave the update on its official twitter account, @WHOAFRO on Monday.

“COVID-19 cases continue to increase in Africa; over 21,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported on the African continent – with 5,000 recoveries and 1,000 deaths. “In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa suffers the most severe outbreak, while Cameroon and Ghana have more than 1,000 confirmed cases.

“Ghana, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea have reported rapid increases in case numbers in the past week,’’ WHO said.

According to the agency, Ghana has recorded 1,042 confirmed cases and nine deaths, Cote d’Ivoire 847 cases with nine deaths while Guinea has recorded 477 confirmed cases with three deaths.

The breakdown on the WHO African Region COVID-19 dashboard showed that South Africa, Algeria and Cameroon had continued to top the list of countries with the highest reported cases.

South Africa has 3,158 cases and 54 deaths followed by Algeria with 2,629 cases and 375 deaths, while Cameroon has 1,016 confirmed cases with 21 deaths. According to the dashboard, South Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, Burundi and Mauritania still remain countries with lowest confirmed cases in the region.

It showed that South Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe were the lowest confirmed cases, which had four cases each with zero death.

Burundi is the second country with the lowest confirmed cases with six reported cases and zero death. Mauritania, the third category with lowest cases, had recorded seven confirmed cases with one death.

Also, the dashboard showed that COVID-19 cases had risen from 373 to 541 confirmed cases with 19 deaths in Nigeria.