Africa COVID-19: Cases pass 1.52 mln as death toll surpasses 37,000

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – AUGUST 22: People wearing face masks as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus. /Getty Images

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases across the African continent has reached 1,526,000 as of Wednesday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of African Union (AU) Commission, said in a statement issued on Wednesday that the number of deaths due to illnesses related to the pandemic reached 37,098 as of Wednesday afternoon.

The Africa CDC said the number of people who have recovered from the infectious virus across the continent has reached 1,262,348 so far.

Amid the uneven impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on African countries, the Africa CDC said that the African countries most affected by the disease in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also said that the average continental fatality rate is currently around 2.4 percent.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency