The Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Tuesday revealed the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa surged to 1,055,964 as the death toll rose to 23,582.
The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) Commission, in its latest situation update issued on Tuesday, said the number of COVID-19 cases across the African continent has risen from 1,047,218 on Monday to 1,055,964 as of Tuesday.
The Africa CDC also noted that the continent-wide COVID-19 related death toll registered an increase of 329 deaths compared to Monday's 23,253 report, to reach 23,582.
The continental disease control and prevention agency also said the number of people who recovered from their COVID-19 infections also reached 744,438 so far.
South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases at 563,598. The country also has the highest COVID-19 related deaths, with death toll currently standing at 10,621, according to the Africa CDC.
Egypt comes next with 95,666 COVID-19 cases and 5,035 COVID-19 related deaths followed by Nigeria, which has so far recorded 46,867 COVID-19 cases and 950 deaths, it was noted.
The Southern Africa region is the most affected area in terms of confirmed cases, followed by Northern Africa and Western Africa regions, respectively, the Africa CDC said.
Amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the African continent, the Africa CDC had also disclosed that about 34 African countries are under "full border closure" in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.
The Africa CDC, which noted that some 41 countries are practicing mandatory public use of face masks, stressed that preventing a crisis such as acute shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers "should be prioritized by health authorities in Africa as part of the COVID-19 response."
