The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 736,288 on Tuesday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) Commission, in its latest situation update issued on Tuesday stressed that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 736,288, up nearly 16,000 from Monday’s 720,622.
The Africa CDC also said that the number of deaths related to the pandemic rose from 15,082 on Monday to 15,418 as of Tuesday.
The continental disease control and prevention agency also stressed that some 391,898 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far, up from 382,857 on Monday.
South Africa is Africa’s highest affected country, followed by Egypt and Nigeria, it was noted. Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, and Cameroon are also among the most affected countries.
The southern Africa region is the most affected area in terms of confirmed cases, followed by northern Africa and western Africa, Africa CDC said.
The Africa CDC had earlier this week said that some 40 African countries are still under “full border closure” while night-time curfew has been activated across 34 countries in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.
According to the Africa CDC, some African countries still allow cargo, freight and emergency transport into and out of their respective countries, and some AU members allow citizens and residents to enter but all borders are essentially closed.
It also noted that 54 African countries are practicing limited public gathering, and some 36 countries have exercised country-wide closure of educational institutions.
Amid growing efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 across countries in Africa, 41 countries are practicing mandatory public use of face masks, it noted.
