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The African continent has so far conducted more than 8.3 million COVID-19 tests amid the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across countries in the continent, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) disclosed on Wednesday.

The statement was made by John Nkengasong, Africa CDC Director, during a virtual conference on Wednesday that explored economic strategies amid the rising number of COVID-19 positive cases in some African countries.

Noting that the number of COVID 19 tests performed in Africa is presently over 8.3 million, the Africa CDC director warned over rising COVID-19 test positivity rate, which stood at 10.5 percent as compared with the number of tests conducted so far.

The Africa CDC had in June revealed its plan to conduct 10 million COVID-19 tests over the next few months as part of the continental Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT), which led by three pillars that are testing, tracing, and treating.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 874, 609 on Wednesday, according to the Africa CDC.

The number of deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 18, 507 as of Wednesday afternoon, up from 18,160 on Tuesday afternoon, it said.