Confirmed COVID-19 cases surpass 10,000 in Africa as global death toll hits 75,000

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 10,075 in Africa and the death toll reached 487, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) revealed on Tuesday.

The Africa CDC, a specialised agency of the 55-member African Union (AU), in its latest situation update issued in Addis Ababa also disclosed that the confirmed COVID-19 cases were spread across 52 countries.

The Africa CDC stated that some 913 people, who have been infected with the COVID-19, have recovered across the continent as at the stated period.

Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, figures from the Africa CDC also show that more than 897 new confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported across the continent since the centre’s recent report on Sunday.

This indicated that the confirmed cases have increased from 9,178 on Monday to 10,075 on Tuesday.

The death toll has also increased from 414 on Monday to 487 as at the stated period, according to the Africa CDC.

The African Union, through Africa CDC, had activated its Emergency Operations Centre and its Incident Management System (IMS) for the COVID-19 outbreak on Jan. 27.

The Africa CDC had also developed its third Incident Action Plan that covers the period from March 16 to April 15.

–Global death toll–

Meanwhile, the pandemic has killed more than 75,000 people worldwide, the majority of them in Europe, since it emerged in China in December, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources at 0945 GMT on Tuesday.

A total of 75,538 deaths have been recorded, including 53,928 in Europe, the continent worst hit by the virus.

The official tallies probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of cases. Many countries are testing only the most serious cases.

Italy, which recorded its first coronavirus death at the end of February, has 16,523 fatalities, followed by Spain with 13,798, the United States with 10,993 and France with 8,911.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1,350,759 cases have been registered around the world, including 708,898 in Europe, 384,947 in the United States and Canada, and 122,348 in Asia.