More than 54,000 COVID-19 cases in Africa

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) – There are 54,027 coronavirus cases in the African continent, said a Friday update by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The figure shows a whopping 2,329 new cases in 24 hours.

The number of deaths also went up to 2,074, a rise of 62 from what it had been a day ago.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries has reached 18,636 after 1,046 more people were confirmed to have recovered in the last 24 hours.

North Africa has 19,800 cases, West Africa 15,200, Southern Africa 8,800, East Africa 5,300 and Central Africa 4,900.

South Africa has the highest number of cases in the continent with 8,200, while Egypt has 8,000 total cases; but in terms of death toll Egypt has a much higher figure 482 while South Africa recorded 161 fatalities.

- Fear of community spread

Ethiopia on Thursday disclosed a record 29 new cases bringing the tally to 191 cases and four deaths.

The Ministry of Health said 19 of the newly identified COVID-19 positive cases have had neither travel histories nor contact with inbound travelers with the virus.

According to the Minister Liya Kebede, Ethiopia will experience the worst episode of the virus in June and July.

Sudan suffered the highest death toll in East Africa with 52 deaths while Somalia suffered 44 deaths.

The tiny state of Djibouti with less than a million population has the highest cases in the East with 1,100.