Africa's COVID-19 cases surpass 787,000

FILE PHOTO: A security guard pours hand sanitising gel into a shopper's hands as he enters the Tejuoso shopping complex at the Yaba market, amid the COVID-19 outbreak, in Lagos, Nigeria March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja/File Photo

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 787,501 on Friday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The continent continues to see a surge in daily new infections, having recorded low cases in the initial stages of the outbreak.

The latest data published by the Africa CDC also showed that the continent has registered 16,697 deaths and 446,082 recoveries.

South Africa remains the worst affected country in the continent by the pandemic, having reported 408,052 cases and 6,093 fatalities.

The figures represent 51.8 percent of the continent's total infections and 36.5 percent of the deaths.

Only 11 African countries have recorded more than 10,000 COVID-19 infections, while only four have surpassed the 30,000 mark.

Other than South Africa, the only other countries that have reported more than 1,000 fatalities are Egypt (4,480) and Algeria (1,136).