COVID-19: Africa records 188,000 deaths as cases surge to 7.5m

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said over 188,000 people have died of COVID-19 on the African continent since the outbreak of the viral infection.

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The Africa CDC disclosed this on Sunday in it’s latest update, saying  more than 7.5m cases have been recorded on the continent so far with over 6.6m recoveries.

The agency stated that the continent has now recorded 7,520,393 cases and 188,654 fatalities.

The African Union health agency stated that 6,621,026 recoveries had been recorded despite the increase in fatalities.

” The Central African region has recorded 214,094 cases; 3,175 deaths, and 187,097 recoveries while Cameroon has the highest figures with 82,454 cases; 1,338 deaths and 80,920 recoveries.

“East Africa, according to the report, recorded 899,304 cases; 18,280 deaths, and 756,336 recoveries

“Ethiopia leading the region with 295,019 cases; 4,553 deaths and 268,252 recoveries.

“In Northern Africa, there are now 3,579,145 cases; 98,841 deaths, and 3,242,876 recoveries while Morocco has the highest figures with 806,288 cases; 11,677 deaths, and 716,904 recoveries,”  Africa CDC’s latest report read.

According to the report, Southern Africa has now recorded 3,579,145 cases; 98,841deaths, and 3,242,876 recoveries as South Africa is still the leading country on the continent with 2,680,225 cases; 79,251deaths and 2,438,182 recoveries.

The Africa CDC report shows that Nigeria has the highest figures in the West African region with

186,635 cases; 2,260 deaths and 168,320 recoveries out of 579,411 cases; 7,823 deaths and 521,472 recoveries recorded.

The World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa, in a statement on its website, said West Africa has recorded its highest number of COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began as several countries grapple with outbreaks of cholera, Ebola Virus Disease and Marburg Virus Disease that threaten to further strain the already stretched emergency response capacity in the region.

According to WHO, COVID-19 fatalities in West Africa over the past four weeks increased by 193 percent from 348 in the previous four weeks to 1018 in the week ending on 15 August.

“Nine out of 23 countries experiencing a resurgence are in West Africa. Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Nigeria are experiencing a surge in cases and all three countries are tackling other outbreaks”, it added.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said, “We are particularly concerned about West Africa and we can expect the pressure of COVID-19 to hit health services harder and faster.

“In addition to the strain of COVID-19, comes Ebola and other outbreaks. Fighting multiple outbreaks is a complex challenge.”

MTO/Punch