Coronavirus cases in South Africa surpass 50,000

By Adam Abu-bashal

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) - The number of people in South Africa infected with the novel coronavirus exceeded 50,000 on Monday, said the country's health authority, with 2,594 cases reported in the last 24 hours.

"As of today, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 50,879, the total number of deaths is 1,080 and the recoveries to date are 26,099," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Twitter.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said more than half of the cases have been seen in the past two weeks.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Africa now exceeds 190,000 while more than 5,000 people have died from the virus.

The highest death toll on the continent has been reported in Egypt, with 1,271 fatalities. It is followed by South Africa with 1,080 deaths, Algeria with 715, Sudan with 359 and Nigeria with 354.

The countries with the highest number of cases are South Africa with 50,879, Egypt with 35,444, Nigeria with 12,486 and Algeria with 10,265.

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The pandemic has killed more than 406,500 people worldwide, with more than 7.11 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 3.29 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut