The World Health Organisation (WHO), Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo says the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Africa has risen to over 20,000.
The UN’s health agency gave the update on its official twitter account @WHOAFRO on Sunday, April 19, 2020.
“Over 20,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,000 associated deaths have been reported on the African continent,’’ WHO said.
The breakdown on the WHO African Region COVID-19 dashboard showed that South Africa, Algeria and Cameroon had continued to top the list of countries with the highest reported cases.
South Africa has 3,034 cases and 52 deaths followed by Algeria with 2,534 cases and 367 deaths, while Cameroon has 1,016 confirmed cases with 21 deaths.
According to the dashboard, South Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, Burundi and Mauritania still remain countries with lowest confirmed cases in the region.
It showed that South Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe were the lowest confirmed cases, which had four cases each with zero death.
Burundi was the second country with the lowest confirmed cases with five reported cases and zero death.
Mauritania, the third category with lowest cases, had recorded seven confirmed cases with one death.
Also, the dashboard showed that COVID-19 cases had risen to 373 confirmed cases with 11 deaths in Nigeria.
But in its update, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 542 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Nigeria, 166 cases treated and discharged with 19 deaths as at Saturday, April 18.
In addition, WHO said that Equatorial Guinea had received the UN ‘Solidarity Flight’, carrying COVID-19 medical supplies to support health workers.
“The WHO’s cargo transported by World Food Programme (WFP) includes critical personal protective equipment, including 10,560 masks and 19,000 pairs of gloves and two ventilators,’’ the UN health agency said.
By Cecilia Ologunagba
