COVID-19: Almost 5000 dead as Africa’s cases surpass 168,000

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 168,464, and at least 4,700 people have died.

This was obtained from statistics released by the World Health Organisation’s office for the African Region on Friday.

“Over 168,464 confirmed #COVID19 cases on the African continent – with more than 73,000 recoveries and 4,700 deaths,” the office wrote on Twitter.

A breakdown of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria as of May 4, 2020 (Source: NCDC)

Most cases in the region were detected in South Africa with 40,792, Egypt with 28,615, and Nigeria with 11,516.

Egypt, South Africa, and Algeria account for the highest number of related fatalities with 1,088, 848, and 681 deaths respectively.

In May, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Africa was the least affected region in the world in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

He noted that the continent had 1.5 per cent of the world’s reported infections and less than 0.1 per cent of the global deaths from the infection. Punch