39 African countries report 1,021 COVID-19 cases as death toll reaches 23: Africa CDC

A total of 1,021 COVID-19 cases have been reported in 39 African countries so far, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) disclosed on Saturday.

The Africa CDC, in its latest situation update issued on Saturday, also revealed that the death toll in Africa due to the COVID-19 is currently 23 across the continent.

Among the highly coronavirus-affected African countries include Egypt 285, South Africa 202 and Algeria 82 as of Saturday, according to the Africa CDC.

The Africa CDC also disclosed that some 103 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus have been recovered.

The latest COVID-19 situation update from the Africa CDC also reported more than 220 new cases in a single day since the center's previous report on Friday. The Africa CDC had on Friday reported some 795 COVID-19 confirmed cases coming from 36 African countries.

John Nkengasong, Africa CDC Director, told a press conference on Thursday that the Africa CDC is focusing on a three-pillar strategy to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the continent.

"Our first strategy is aimed at prevention, the second pillar of strategy is preventing death and the third pillar is preventing social harm," he said.

Nkengasong also said Africa CDC is facilitating mass testing across the continent as part of a comprehensive plan to fight the spread of the virus.

"By next Monday we would have rolled out 60,000 tests to African countries," the Africa CDC director said, adding "our continental strategy is aimed at three key things: cooperation, collaboration and communication across member states."

The African Union, through its specialized healthcare agency Africa CDC, has already activated its Emergency Operations Center and its Incident Management System (IMS) for the COVID-19 outbreak on January 27.

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