JOHNANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — The number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to over one million, with more than half registered in South Africa, according to an AFP count late Thursday.
The continent’s worst-hit nation has registered 538,184 infections, including over 8,000 new cases on Thursday, and 9,604 deaths.
Egypt has recorded around 95,000 COVID-19 cases while the figure in Nigeria is 45,000.
South Africa’s infection figures are the fifth-highest after the US, Brazil, India and Russia.
Nevertheless the African continent remains one of the least affected, according to the official figures, with only Oceania registering fewer COVID-19 cases.
But the official numbers are likely to be a fraction of the real extent of the virus’ spread throughout Africa where a number of countries have failing healthcare systems and limited screening capacities.
Worldwide there have been some 19 million recorded coronavirus cases resulting in over 709,000 deaths.
© Agence France-Presse